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Background: This study examined bidirectional relationships between maternal feeding practices and child food responsiveness and satiety responsiveness from 2 to 5 years. Methods: Mothers (N = 207) reported their own feeding practices and child eating behaviours using validated questionnaires at child ages 2, 3.7, and 5 years. Cross-lagged analyses were conducted to test for bidirectional effects, adjusting for child BMI z-score (based on measured weight and height) at 14 months. Results: Eating behaviours and feeding practices showed strong continuity across the three time points. Maternal feeding practices (higher reward for behaviour [β =0.12, p = 0.025] and lower covert restriction [β = -0.14, p =0.008]) were prospectively associated with higher food responsiveness. Conversely, increased child satiety responsiveness was primarily prospectively associated with mothers' feeding practices (increased structured meal timing [β =0.11, p = 0.038], overt [β =0.14, p = 0.010] and covert restriction [β =0.11, p = 0.022]). The only exception was family meal setting, which was prospectively negatively associated with satiety responsiveness (β = -0.11, p =0.035). Conclusion: While maternal feeding practices and child satiety and food responsiveness show strong continuity between child age 2 and 5 years, maternal feeding practices appear to be associated with child food responsiveness over time. Conversely, child satiety responsiveness, but not food responsiveness, may also be associated with maternal feeding practices over time. These results are consistent with interventions that provide feeding advice to parents on how to respond appropriately to individual child eating behaviour phenotype. Trial registration: ACTRN12608000056392. Registered 29 January 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Determine whether feeding practices across mothers and fathers are interpreted and measured with equivalent accuracy (measurement invariance) using the Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire-28 (FPSQ-28).Design: Cross-sectional hard-copy and online survey design; Setting: Socioeconomically disadvantaged community in Queensland, Australia.Participants: Mothers (n = 279) and fathers (n = 225) of 2- to 5-year old children.Variables Measured: Parental feeding practices were measured using the 7 multi-item factors from the FPSQ-28.Analysis: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to evaluate the factor structure of the FPSQ-28 among mothers and fathers from a socioeconomically disadvantaged community. Measurement invariance between mothers and fathers was examined using hierarchical multi-group CFAs.Results: The 7-factor FPSQ-28 model showed good fit and was invariant across parent gender.Conclusions and Implications: The FPSQ-28 subscales appear to be interpreted equivalently, and thus to measure the same constructs, irrespective of the gender of the parents. The questionnaire can be used to measure or compare mothers' and fathers' self-reported feeding practices and examine influence on child health outcomes. In the current sample of mothers and fathers recruited from a socioeconomically disadvantaged community, mothers used more 'covert restriction' than fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Early feeding practices lay the foundation for children's eating habits and weight gain. Questionnaires are available to assess parental feeding but overlapping and inconsistent items, subscales and terminology limit conceptual clarity and between study comparisons. Our aim was to consolidate a range of existing items into a parsimonious and conceptually robust questionnaire for assessing feeding practices with very young children (<3 years). Methods Data were from 462 mothers and children (age 21-27 months) from the NOURISH trial. Items from five questionnaires and two study-specific items were submitted to a priori item selection, allocation and verification, before theoretically-derived factors were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Construct validity of the new factors was examined by correlating these with child eating behaviours and weight. Results Following expert review 10 factors were specified. Of these, 9 factors (40 items) showed acceptable model fit and internal reliability (Cronbach's a: 0.61-0.89). Four factors reflected non-responsive feeding practices: 'Distrust in Appetite', 'Reward for Behaviour', 'Reward for Eating', and 'Persuasive Feeding'. Five factors reflected structure of the meal environment and limits: 'Structured Meal Setting', 'Structured Meal Timing', 'Family Meal Setting', 'Overt Restriction' and 'Covert Restriction'. Feeding practices generally showed the expected pattern of associations with child eating behaviours but none with weight. Conclusion The Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire (FPSQ) provides a new reliable and valid measure of parental feeding practices, specifically maternal responsiveness to children's hunger/satiety signals facilitated by routine and structure in feeding. Further validation in more diverse samples is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between temperament in Australian infants aged 2–7months and feeding practices of their first-time mothers (n =698). Associations between feeding practices and beliefs (Infant Feeding Questionnaire) and infant temperament (easy-difficult continuous scale from the Short Temperament Scale for Infants) were tested using linear and binary logistic regression models adjusted for a comprehensive range of covariates. Mothers of infants with a more difficult temperament reported a lower awareness of infant cues, were more likely to use food to calm and reported high concern about overweight and underweight. The covariate maternal depression score largely mirrored these associations. Infant temperament may be an important variable to consider in future research on the prevention of childhood obesity. In practice, mothers of temperamentally difficult infants may need targeted feeding advice to minimise the adoption of undesirable feeding practices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Fathers' perceptions of feeding children are rarely considered in the literature, yet there is growing recognition of their unique contribution to the family feeding environment. This study aimed to explore fathers' perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and lived experiences of mealtime interactions with children and other family members. Fathers (N = 27) of children aged ≤12 years old were recruited from occupationally diverse workplaces and participated in six focus groups on-site at the fathers' workplaces. Using grounded theory, we show that fathers' connection to children at mealtimes influenced how they perceived and responded to child eating behaviours. Three major themes were identified in fathers' experiences of mealtime interactions: (i) valuing connection and communication; (ii) expectations and perceptions of child eating behaviours, and (iii) feeding practices used in an attempt to align their mealtime expectations to reality. Fathers' connections were informed by their mealtime goals, historical feeding interactions with their child and intergenerational transmission of cultural values. These values were communicated between father and child through verbal (e.g. conversations) and structural (e.g. being present at meals) cues. Fathers described challenging child behaviours that disrupted mealtime connections, such as food refusal or the use of digital devices. Awareness of child food preferences, distractors, time, personal or child mood, and guilt triggered fathers' adjustment of their feeding practices, often in an effort to avoid mealtime conflict. Fathers tended to describe their feeding practices within the context of mothers' feeding practices and mealtime participation. The values that underpin fathers' connection to family mealtimes can be leveraged to inform culturally-appropriate interventions that facilitate positive, shared family meals to support child health and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To identify associations between structure-related and non-responsive feeding practices and children's eating behaviors. Design Cross-sectional online survey design. Participants Parents (n = 413) of 1- to 10-year-old children. Main Outcome Measures Parental feeding practices and child eating behaviors were measured via the validated Feeding Practices and Structure and Children's Eating Behaviour questionnaires. Analysis Associations between parental feeding practices and children's eating behaviors were tested using hierarchical multivariable linear regression models, adjusted for covariates. Results Feeding practices accounted for 28% and 21% of the variance in food fussiness and enjoyment of food, respectively ( P < .001). For all other eating behaviors the amount of variance explained by feeding practices was < 10% ( P < .001). Key findings were that more structure and less non-responsive practices were associated with lower food fussiness and higher enjoyment of food. Conclusions and Implications Overall, the findings suggested that mealtime structure and responsive feeding are associated with more desirable eating behaviors. Contrary to predictions, there was no evidence to indicate that these practices are associated with better self-regulation of energy intake. Longitudinal research and intervention studies are needed to confirm the importance of these feeding practices for children's eating behaviors and weight outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents' food-related and general parenting behaviors may vary according to cultural background, with consequences for child eating behavior and weight. A better understanding of food-related and general parenting behaviors adopted by Chinese-American parents, and the relationships of all of these behaviors with child weight, is essential to aid the development of culturally appropriate interventions to prevent obesity in Chinese-American children. We investigated cross-sectional relationships of acculturation with parental feeding behaviors assessed with the Child Feeding Questionnaire, Parent Feeding Styles Questionnaire and Caregiver's Feeding Styles Questionnaire, and general parenting behaviors assessed with the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, in a sample of Chinese-American parents of 5-12 year-old children (n = 233). Parental level of acculturation was assessed using the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation scale. We performed generalized linear regressions to explore associations of acculturation levels with parental feeding and general parenting subscales and also associations of these factors with child body mass index (BMI) z-score. Acculturation was associated with higher scores on Responsiveness in feeding, lower scores on subscales assessing controlling feeding behaviors (Restriction, Pressure to eat, Demandingness in feeding), lower scores on non-nutritive feeding behaviors (Emotional feeding, Instrumental feeding), and greater likelihood of an indulgent feeding style. With regard to general parenting, acculturation was associated with lower scores on subscales assessing authoritarian parenting. Parental Prompting/Encouragement to eat was associated with lower child BMI z-score, while authoritarian parenting subscales were associated with higher BMI z-score. An appreciation of the impact of cultural variation on food-related and general parenting may help to inform the development of culturally-sensitive obesity prevention interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fussy eating is a nuanced, mealtime-specific behaviour associated with difficult temperament but has been rarely examined within the context of mealtime structure. The aim of this study was to a) examine associations between child temperament, and mothers' and fathers' structure-related feeding practices and b) explore whether these associations were mediated by child fussy eating. Cohabiting mother-father pairs (N = 205) of children aged between 2- to 5-years residing in a socioeconomically disadvantaged Australian city completed self-reported, validated measures of child temperament, food fussiness and structure-related feeding practices (structured meal timing, structured meal setting and family meal setting). Child temperament was associated with maternal and paternal structure-related feeding practices, such that more difficult temperament was associated with less mealtime structure. Mothers' perception of child food fussiness mediated the relationship between difficult temperament and increased provision of alternative meals to the child from the rest of the family. Additionally, mothers' and fathers' perception of child food fussiness mediated the relationship between difficult child temperament and lower frequency of sitting at a table together for family meals. Therefore, perceptions of child food fussiness may explain why mothers and fathers use less structure at mealtimes with children who have more difficult temperaments. These results suggests that similar intervention approaches can be used for both mothers and fathers from socioeconomically disadvantaged families to target fussy eating and structure the mealtime environment. Promoting mealtime structure to facilitate parents' appropriate responses to food refusal or difficult behaviour at mealtimes is indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]