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Development of the responsiveness to child feeding cues scale

Eric A Hodges1, Susan L Johnson, Sheryl O Hughes

  • 1School of Nursing, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Appetite
|February 20, 2013
PubMed

Insights

This study developed the Responsiveness to Child Feeding Cues Scale (RCFCS) to measure caregiver feeding behaviors. The RCFCS is a reliable tool for assessing responsive feeding practices in infants and toddlers, crucial for preventing childhood obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Nutrition Science
  • Child Development

Background:

  • Parent-child feeding interactions influence appetite and obesity risk.
  • Caregiver responsiveness to infant feeding cues is critical but understudied.
  • Observational measures are needed to assess responsive feeding relevant to obesity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate the Responsiveness to Child Feeding Cues Scale (RCFCS).
  • To assess caregiver responsiveness to child hunger and fullness cues.
  • To evaluate the RCFCS's reliability and validity in a diverse sample.

Main Methods:

  • Developed the RCFCS, an observational tool for caregiver feeding responsiveness.
  • Trained coders rated maternal responsiveness from digital recordings of feeding.
  • Assessed inter-rater reliability and criterion validity in 144 mother-child dyads (7-24 months).

Main Results:

  • The RCFCS demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC>0.80).
  • Mothers showed greater responsiveness to hunger cues than fullness cues.
  • Feeding responsiveness correlated with maternal education, BMI, child age, and feeding practices.

Conclusions:

  • The RCFCS is a reliable and valid observational measure for responsive feeding in children under two.
  • This scale can inform interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity.
  • Understanding responsive feeding is key to shaping healthy eating behaviors early in life.

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