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Background: Little is known about the pathways linking parent feeding practices with appetitive traits and BMIz throughout infancy. This study examined bidirectional associations between parental feeding practices, infant appetitive traits, and infant BMIz. Methods: Parents (n = 380) of infants aged less than 6 months at baseline reported their feeding practices (using the Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire (FPSQ) for infants and toddlers), infant appetitive traits (using the Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire) and infant BMIz (parent-reported) at three timepoints (< 6 months, ~ 9 months, ~ 12 months) up to 12 months of age. Cross-lagged models examined bidirectional associations between parent feeding practices, infant appetitive traits and infant BMIz. Results: There was strong continuity across the three timepoints for maternal feeding practices, infant appetitive traits, and infant BMIz. Infant food avoidance was prospectively associated with higher parental persuasive feeding. Infant BMIz was prospectively associated with higher parent-led feeding. Parent use of food to calm was prospectively associated with lower infant BMIz, and infant BMIz was prospectively associated with higher infant food approach. Feeding on demand was prospectively associated with lower infant food approach. Conclusion: This study highlights the complex associations between parental feeding practices, infant appetitive traits and infant BMIz. The study demonstrated that both child and parent effects are important, suggesting a need for tailored programs beginning in infancy to promote and support infant appetitive traits and parent feeding practices that support healthy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have investigated associations between individual foods or food group intake, and breastfeeding duration, age of solid introduction and food neophobia. This study aimed to investigate associations between whole dietary patterns in young children, and breastfeeding duration, age of solid introduction and food neophobia. Parents of children (N = 234) aged 1-5 years completed an online questionnaire. Dietary risk scores were calculated using the Toddler (1-3 years) or Preschool (>3-<5 years) Dietary Questionnaires which evaluates the previous week's food-group intake (scored 0-100; higher score = higher risk of poor dietary quality). Neophobia was measured using the Child Food Neophobia scale (1.0-4.0; higher score = more neophobic). Associations were investigated using multivariable linear regression, adjusting for covariates. Children (54% female, 3.0 ± 1.4 years) were from advantaged families and were breastfed until 11.8 (5.0-16.0) months, started solids at 5.6 ± 1.4 months of age, moderately neophobic (2.1 ± 0.7) and at moderate dietary risk (29.2 ± 9.2). Shorter breastfeeding duration (β = -0.21; p = 0.001) and poorer child food neophobia scores (β = 0.36; p < 0.001) were associated with higher dietary risk scores. Age of introduction to solids showed no association with dietary risk (p = 0.744). These findings suggest that in addition to breastfeeding promotion, supporting parents to manage neophobic behaviour may be important in promoting healthy eating patterns in early childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To characterise parent presentations of fussy eating and mealtime interactions at a point of crisis, through analyses of real-time recordings of calls to a parenting helpline.Design: Qualitative analysis included an inductive thematic approach to examine clinical parent presentations of fussy eating and derive underlying themes relating to mealtime interactions.Setting: Calls made to the Child Health Line regarding feeding concerns were recorded and transcribed verbatim.Subjects: From a corpus of 723 calls made during a 4-week period in 2009, twelve were from parents of children aged 6-48 months.Results: Parents of infants (≤12 months, n 6) presented feeding concerns as learning challenges in the process of transitioning from a milk-based to a solid-based diet, while parents of toddlers (13-48 months, n 6) presented emotional accounts of feeding as an intractable problem. Parents presented their child's eating behaviour as a battle (conflict), in which their children's agency over limited intake and variety of foods (child control) was constructed as 'bad' or 'wrong'. Escalating parent anxiety (parent concern) had evoked parent non-responsive feeding practices or provision of foods the child preferred.Conclusions: Real-time descriptions of young children's fussy eating at a time of crisis that initiated parents' call for help have captured the highly charged emotional underpinnings of mealtime interactions associated with fussy eating. Importantly, they show the child's emerging assertion of food autonomy can escalate parents' emotional distress that, in the short term, initiates non-responsive feeding practices. The current study identifies the importance of educational and emotional support for parents across the period of introducing solids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal depression is a known risk factor for poor outcomes for children. Pathways to these poor outcomes relate to reduced maternal responsiveness or sensitivity to the child. Impaired responsiveness potentially impacts the feeding relationship and thus may be a risk factor for inappropriate feeding practices. The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal relationships between self‐reported maternal post‐natal depressive symptoms at child age 4 months and feeding practices at child age 2 years in a community sample. Participants were Australian first‐time mothers allocated to the control group of the NOURISH randomized controlled trial when infants were 4 months old. Complete data from 211 mothers (of 346 allocated) followed up when their children were 2 years of age (51% girls) were available for analysis. The relationship between Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score (child age 4 months) and child feeding practices (child age 2 years) was tested using hierarchical linear regression analysis adjusted for maternal and child characteristics. Higher EPDS score was associated with less responsive feeding practices at child age 2 years: greater pressure [β = 0.18, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04–0.32, P = 0.01], restriction (β = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.001–0.28, P = 0.05), instrumental (β = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.005–0.27, P = 0.04) and emotional (β = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.01–0.29, P = 0.03) feeding practices (ΔR2 values: 0.02–0.03, P < 0.05). This study provides evidence for the proposed link between maternal post‐natal depressive symptoms and lower responsiveness in child feeding. These findings suggest that the provision of support to mothers experiencing some levels of depressive symptomatology in the early post‐natal period may improve responsiveness in the child feeding relationship. [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]

Background: Breastfeeding is a complex behaviour relying on a combination of individual mother and infant characteristics, health systems, and family, community and professional support. Optimal breastfeeding in high-income countries is particularly low. Despite having similar sociocultural backgrounds, breastfeeding rates between Ireland, the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia vary, thus there is a need to understand whether this is due to individual, sociocultural or policy differences. This research identifies the between-country differences in infant feeding mode and examines if country differences in feeding mode persist once known individual, behavioural and structural factors are considered using socioecological and person-context models. Methods: Participants were adult women with at least one infant less than 6 months of age, who completed an online survey (n = 2047) that was distributed by social media in June 2016. Within-country differences in infant feeding mode ('any breastfeeding' vs. 'no breastfeeding') were examined first before hierarchical multivariable logistic regression was used to determine if country differences in feeding mode persisted after adjusting for known factors associated with breastfeeding. Results: In this sample, 'any breastfeeding' rates were 89, 71 and 72% in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom respectively. Within-country differences were evident in Australia, Ireland and the UK. Four factors showed no association with infant feeding mode in Australia while they did in the other countries (maternal age, income, skin-to-skin contact, support from friends and family). Two factors were unique to Australia: the odds of being in the 'no breastfeeding' group increased when the baby was delivered via caesarean and when not enough breastfeeding information was available after birth. One determinant was unique to Ireland: the odds of being in the 'no breastfeeding' group increased when respondents indicated they were not religious; in the UK this occurred when respondents were living in a town/village. After adjusting for sets of known factors of infant feeding mode based on socioecological and person-context models, country differences remained in hierarchical regressions: the odds of not breastfeeding were higher in both Ireland (AOR 3.3, 95%CI 1.8,6.1) and the United Kingdom (AOR 2.7, 95%CI 1.5, 4.7) compared to Australia. Conclusions: This study indicates that different levels in the socioecological system are related to infant feeding behaviours. An adequate inter-systems level response would consider the interactions within and between behavioural and structural mechanisms which support breastfeeding behaviour. Optimising infant feeding practices will require an integrated web of interventions that go beyond the individual and focus on addressing factors that will influence families within their communities as they move between systems. [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]

To examine the sources and timing of advice formula feeding parents receive and how this and other factors influence the choice of formula product and formula preparation. Components of a cross-sectional survey. A child and family health service in New South Wales, Australia. Parents (n = 153) who were fully or partially formula feeding infants aged 0–6 months and who visited the service's facilities or its social media site. Type of formula, preparation of formula, and use and sources of formula feeding advice. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U or Pearson's chi-square tests, and inductive content analysis. The most common source of formula feeding advice was the formula tin/packet (96.6%). Although 79.2% received advice from a health professional, only 18.9% reported receiving this advice before using formula. Approximately half (48.0%) of the parents chose a standard cow's milk-based formula. The most common reason for their choice of formula type/brand was a personal recommendation (53.0%). Parents' responses indicated that nearly half (46.3%) incorrectly prepared the formula. Although health professional advice was widely received, this was rarely before starting formula. Despite the current national infant feeding regulations, parents who were not exclusively breastfeeding their infants did not always receive timely, health professional advice about formula feeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]