Pumpkin is "yucky"!: A prospective study of overt and covert restriction in the development of young children's food preferences.

The aim of the study was to investigate maternal feeding strategies as prospective predictors of young children's food preferences. Participants were 106 mother - child dyads with data collected when children were aged 4 (Time 1) and then again at 6 years old (Time 2). Mothers completed an initial questionnaire at Time 1 which contained measures of restrictive and covert feeding strategies. Children were interviewed concerning their food preferences and had their height and weight measured at Time 1 and again two years later (Time 2). Longitudinal regression results showed that Time 1 parental restrictive feeding predicted decreased child-reported preferences for fruit and vegetables and increased preferences for salty food and sweets at Time 2. Conversely, Time 1 parental covert control predicted greater child-reported preferences for fruit and vegetables over time. The results provide longitudinal evidence of the negative impact of restrictive feeding, and of the positive impact of covert control, on the development of young children's food preferences.

Eating in the absence of hunger in young children: The role of maternal feeding strategies.

Restrictive feeding strategies have been associated with increased eating in the absence of hunger in a small number of studies of young girls. The aim of the present study was to examine a broader range of maternal feeding styles and eating in the absence of hunger in both girls and boys aged 3-5 years old. Participants were 184 mother-child dyads. Mothers completed a questionnaire containing measures of feeding strategies (Restriction, Pressure to Eat and Covert Control). Children consumed a lunch meal and then completed the Eating in the Absence of Hunger protocol. For girls, restrictive feeding was associated with increased eating in the absence of hunger. For boys, pressure to eat more was negatively associated with eating in the absence of hunger. Covert control was not associated with eating in the absence of hunger. Overall, the findings suggest that maternal feeding practices have a differential effect on the eating behaviours of girls and boys. In addition, results from this study indicate that controlling maternal feeding strategies, such as restrictive feeding, have a detrimental impact on young children's eating behaviours and may interfere with their ability to self-regulate eating.

"That's enough now!": A prospective study of the effects of maternal control on children's snack intake.

The aim of this study was to investigate maternal feeding strategies as prospective predictors of young children's snack intake. Participants were 252 mothers of children aged 3-11 years old who completed questionnaire measures of parent feeding strategies (Restriction and Covert Control) and reported on their child's healthy and unhealthy snack intake at two time points separated by three years. Longitudinal regression models showed no prediction of healthy snack food intake. However, Time 1 parental restrictive feeding predicted greater unhealthy snack intake at Time 2, while Time 1 covert feeding strategies predicted lower unhealthy snack intake at Time 2. Structural equation modeling showed that these associations were independent of known covariates that influence children's snack intake (child and parent weight, education level and SES). The results provide longitudinal evidence for the negative impact of restrictive parent feeding strategies on children's snack intake and highlight the importance of dissuading parents from using this type of feeding control. Instead, parents should be encouraged to use more covert feeding strategies that are associated with less unhealthy snack intake over the longer term.

Managing young children's snack food intake. The role of parenting style and feeding strategies.

One major contributor to the problem of childhood overweight and obesity is the over-consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar, such as snack foods. The current study aimed to examine young children's snack intake and the influence of feeding strategies used by parents in the context of general parenting style. Participants were 611 mothers of children aged 2-7 years who completed an online questionnaire containing measures of general parenting domains and two particular feeding strategies, restriction and covert control. It was found that greater unhealthy snack intake was associated with higher restriction and lower covert control, while greater healthy snack intake was associated with lower restriction and higher covert control. Further, the feeding strategies mediated the association between parental demandingness and responsiveness and child snack intake. These findings provide evidence for the differential impact of controlling and positive parental feeding strategies on young children's snack intake in the context of general parenting.

Maternal responses to difficult food request scenarios: Relationships with feeding style and child unhealthy snack intake.

This study sought to identify parent-feeding behaviours in real-life difficult feeding situations through the use of a set of scenarios. These were then used to examine links between parent feeding and child snack intake. Mothers of children aged 2-7 years ( n = 611) completed an online survey containing five snack food request scenarios, two commonly used parent-feeding scales (Restriction and Covert Control), and reported on their child's snack intake. Results showed that parent-feeding styles (restrictive or covert) translated into specific behaviours in response to the scenarios. These parent behaviours predicted children's intake of unhealthy snack food over and above the feeding style.