Are food parenting practices gendered? Impact of mothers' and fathers' practices on their child's eating behaviors

Past research has mainly focused on the links between child eating behaviors and maternal food practices. The impact of fathers and of concordant/discordant food parenting practices within families has received much less attention. To fill this gap, both parents of 105 French children aged 2.01–6.51...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Appetite 2021-11, Vol.166, p.105433-105433, Article 105433
Main Authors: Philippe, Kaat, Chabanet, Claire, Issanchou, Sylvie, Monnery-Patris, Sandrine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child eating behaviors
Fathers
Food and Nutrition
Life Sciences
Neurons and Cognition
Parental feeding practices
Parental feeding styles
Preschoolers
Psychology and behavior
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Summary:Past research has mainly focused on the links between child eating behaviors and maternal food practices. The impact of fathers and of concordant/discordant food parenting practices within families has received much less attention. To fill this gap, both parents of 105 French children aged 2.01–6.51 years (54 boys, Mage = 3.88 years, SD = 1.40) filled in a survey with items from validated questionnaires. Results showed that fathers and mothers perceived their child's eating behaviors in similar ways (Pearson correlations between 0.34 and 0.78; M = 0.60), despite mothers taking significantly more meals with their child than fathers. Fathers reported using significantly more pressure to eat and food as reward, but reported lower levels of “family meal setting” than mothers. Moderate to high correlations were observed between mothers' and fathers' feeding practices and styles. Regression analyses showed that both maternal and paternal practices and styles were predictors for child eating behaviors. One interaction effect was observed: in households where both parents used higher levels of pressure to eat, the child showed a significantly lower food enjoyment than expected if the effects were additive. Our findings underline the importance of studying the individual role of each parent in child feeding research and that both parents within families should avoid using coercive practices. This could finally stimulate new interventions and recommendations addressed to both parents.
ISSN:0195-6663
1095-8304
DOI:10.1016/j.appet.2021.105433