Maternal restrictive feeding and eating in the absence of hunger among toddlers: a cohort study

Restrictive feeding by parents has been associated with greater eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) among children, a risk factor for obesity. However, few studies have examined the association between restrictive feeding and EAH longitudinally, raising questions regarding the direction of associations between restrictive feeding and child EAH. Our objective was to examine the bidirectional prospective associations between restrictive feeding and EAH among toddlers.

Low-income mother-child dyads (n = 229) participated when children were 21, 27, and 33 months old. Restriction with regard to food amount and food quality were measured with the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire. EAH was measured as kilocalories of food children consumed after a satiating meal. A cross-lagged analysis adjusting for child sex and weight-for-length z-score was used to simultaneously test cross-sectional and bidirectional prospective associations between each type of restriction and children's EAH.

At 21 months, mothers of children with greater EAH reported higher restriction with regard to food amount (b = 0.17, p < .05). Restriction with regard to food amount at age 21 months was inversely associated with EAH at 27 months (b = -0.20, p < .05). Restriction with regard to food amount at 27 months was not associated with EAH at 33 months and restriction with regard to food quality was not associated with EAH. EAH did not prospectively predict maternal restriction.

Neither restriction with regard to food amount nor food quality increased risk for EAH among toddlers. Current US clinical practice recommendations for parents to avoid restrictive feeding, and the potential utility of restrictive feeding with regard to food amount in early toddlerhood, deserve further consideration.