Overt restrictive feeding for weight management: a preliminary retrospective examination of childhood experiences

Area of Science:

• Childhood psychology
• Parenting studies
• Eating behavior research

Background:

• Overt restrictive feeding practices (ORFP) are parental strategies for weight control in children.
• While intended to prevent weight gain, ORFP can have unintended negative behavioral and weight outcomes.
• Little is known about the lived experiences of children subjected to ORFP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore retrospective accounts of meaning-making related to childhood experiences of parental ORFP.
• To understand how individuals interpret and process their experiences with restrictive feeding.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving interviews with six young adult females who experienced ORFP.
• Data analyzed using constructivist grounded theory.
• Descriptive study (Level V evidence).

Main Results:

• Participants described a meaning-making process involving perceiving parental motivations and weight messages.
• Internalization of parental weight-related messages was a key component.
• Self-worth became contingent on weight for participants.

Conclusions:

• Parental ORFP may inadvertently reinforce weight stigma in children.
• Findings provide evidence against the use of ORFP for childhood weight management.
• Further research is needed on the long-term psychological impact of ORFP.