Family mealtime emotions and food parenting practices among mothers of young children: Development of the Mealtime Emotions Measure for Parents (MEM-P).

Family mealtimes can be important for supporting children's healthy development, yet the emotional context of mealtimes can vary considerably, likely impacting their overall success and enjoyment. Yet, despite having an important role, little is known about how parents emotionally experience mealtimes with their family. The first aim of the current study was to assess the factor structure of a novel self-report measure to assess parents' emotional responses experienced during family mealtimes (Mealtime Emotions Measure for Parents; MEM-P). The second aim was to examine relationships between maternal mealtime emotions and their food parenting practices. Mothers of children aged between 1.5 and 6 years participated in this study. Mothers were invited to complete an online questionnaire measuring family mealtime emotions, anxiety, depression and food parenting practices. Exploratory factor analysis produced a three-factor solution comprising both positive and negative emotion subscales: MEM-P Efficacy; MEM-P Anxiety; MEM-P Stress and Anger. Mothers' positive mealtime emotions (mealtime efficacy) were related to greater use of practices promoting autonomy, providing a healthy home food environment, and modelling healthy eating. Higher anxiety about mealtimes was related to greater reports of child control over eating, and mealtime stress and anger was associated with greater use of food to regulate emotions. These findings highlight novel relationships between how mothers emotionally experience family mealtimes and the food parenting practices they use with their children. It is important to develop resources to help promote positive maternal experiences of family mealtimes and food-based interactions.

Sensory evaluation of a novel vegetable in school age children.

A behavioural sensory task was undertaken to further understanding into whether children's sensory evaluation of a new vegetable is associated with tasting and food neophobia scores. A sample of ninety-five children, aged 7-11 years, was recruited from a primary school in inner city Birmingham, UK. They were asked to rate the sight, smell and feel of a familiar vegetable (carrot) and an unfamiliar vegetable (celeriac) in a randomised order to control for order effects. They were then asked to try the each vegetable, and rate its taste. It was found that children rated the sensory characteristics of the familiar vegetable more positively than the novel vegetable across all sensory domains (p < 0.05). Refusing to try the novel vegetable was associated with food neophobia scores and olfactory ratings. The ratings of the taste of the novel vegetable were associated with olfactory and tactile ratings. In addition there was a clear developmental shift in the sample with younger children being more likely to rate the novel vegetable as 'looking strange' and older children rating the novel vegetable as 'smelling strange'. This research strengthens the idea that sensory information is important in children deciding to try, and their hedonic evaluation of the taste of a new vegetable.

Parental modelling of eating behaviours: observational validation of the Parental Modelling of Eating Behaviours scale (PARM).

Parents are important role models for their children's eating behaviours. This study aimed to further validate the recently developed Parental Modelling of Eating Behaviours Scale (PARM) by examining the relationships between maternal self-reports on the PARM with the modelling practices exhibited by these mothers during three family mealtime observations. Relationships between observed maternal modelling and maternal reports of children's eating behaviours were also explored. Seventeen mothers with children aged between 2 and 6 years were video recorded at home on three separate occasions whilst eating a meal with their child. Mothers also completed the PARM, the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and provided demographic information about themselves and their child. Findings provided validation for all three PARM subscales, which were positively associated with their observed counterparts on the observational coding scheme (PARM-O). The results also indicate that habituation to observations did not change the feeding behaviours displayed by mothers. In addition, observed maternal modelling was significantly related to children's food responsiveness (i.e., their interest in and desire for foods), enjoyment of food, and food fussiness. This study makes three important contributions to the literature. It provides construct validation for the PARM measure and provides further observational support for maternal modelling being related to lower levels of food fussiness and higher levels of food enjoyment in their children. These findings also suggest that maternal feeding behaviours remain consistent across repeated observations of family mealtimes, providing validation for previous research which has used single observations.

Development of the Parental Modelling of Eating Behaviours Scale (PARM): links with food intake among children and their mothers.

This study aimed to develop a self-report questionnaire to explore parental modelling of eating behaviours and then to use the newly developed measure to investigate associations between parental modelling with healthy and unhealthy food intake in both mothers and their children. Mothers (n = 484) with a child aged between 18 months and 8 years completed the Parental Modelling of Eating Behaviours Scale (PARM), a new, self-report measure of modelling, as well as a food frequency questionnaire. Principal components analysis of the PARM identified 15 items grouped into three subscales: verbal modelling (modelling through verbal communication); unintentional modelling (UM) (children adopting eating behaviours that parents had not actively modelled); and behavioural consequences (children's eating behaviours directly associated with parental modelling). The PARM subscales were found to be differentially related to food intake. Maternally perceived consequences of behavioural modelling were related to increased fruit and vegetable intake in both mothers and children. UM was related to higher levels of savoury snack intake in both mothers and their children. This study has highlighted three distinct aspects of parental modelling of eating behaviours. The findings suggest that mothers may intentionally model healthy food intake while unintentionally acting as role models for their children's less healthy, snack food intake.

Interventions to promote the health and well-being of children under 5s experiencing homelessness in high-income countries: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVES: Homelessness among families with children under 5 residing in temporary accommodation is a growing global concern, especially in high-income countries (HICs). Despite significant impacts on health and development, these 'invisible' children often fall through the gaps in policy and services. The study's primary objective is to map the content and delivery methods of culturally sensitive interventions for children under 5 experiencing homelessness in HICs. DESIGN: A scoping review guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. DATA SOURCES: Databases include PubMed, Medline, SCOPUS, The Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched up to 24 March 2022. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: This scoping review includes studies that describe, measure or evaluate intervention strategies aimed at improving child health programmes, specifically those yielding positive outcomes in key areas like feeding, nutrition, care practices and parenting. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Articles were selected and evaluated by two independent reviewers, with a dispute resolution system involving a third reviewer for contested selections. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using various tools including the Risk of Bias (RoB) tool, Cochrane RoB V.2.0, the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Non-randomized Studies (RoBANS) and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE), each selected according to the type of article. RESULTS: The database search yielded 951 results. After deduplication, abstract screening and full review, 13 articles met the inclusion criteria. Two predominant categories of intervention delivery methods were identified in this research: group-based interventions (educational sessions) and individual-based interventions (home visits). CONCLUSION: This review highlights effective interventions for promoting the health and well-being of children under 5 experiencing homelessness, including educational sessions and home visits. Research has supported the importance of home visiting to be instrumental in breaking down language, cultural and health literacy barriers.

Unintentional role models: links between maternal eating psychopathology and the modelling of eating behaviours.

This study explored the relationships between maternal modelling of eating behaviours with reported symptoms of maternal eating psychopathology, anxiety and depression. Mothers (N = 264) with a child aged 1.5 to 8 years completed three self-report measures designed to assess modelling of eating behaviours, eating psychopathology and levels of anxiety and depression. The study found that higher levels of maternal eating psychopathology were positively associated with eating behaviours that were unintentionally modelled by mothers but that maternal eating psychopathology was not associated with more overt/intentional forms of parental modelling. In addition, higher levels of maternal depression were associated with lower levels of both unintentional and intentional forms of maternal modelling, whereas maternal anxiety was not found to correlate with modelling behaviours. This study highlights the possible detrimental influences of maternal mental health in relation to mothers providing their child with a positive parental role model around eating and feeding.