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Temperament and eating self-regulation in young children with or at risk for obesity: An exploratory report
Alyssa Button1, Myles S Faith1, Robert I Berkowitz2,3,4
1Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology, Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA.
Background:
Few studies have examined the relationship between temperament and eating self-regulation in early childhood, despite emerging evidence for associations with pediatric obesity.
Method:
The aim of this exploratory report was to examine the associations between three eating behaviors and three facets of temperament among 4- to 8-year-olds with or at risk for obesity.
Results:
Among 28 participants in a family intervention to reduce eating speed, we found at baseline that slower child eating speed was associated with less surgency (r = -.39, p = .04) and higher food responsiveness was associated with higher negative affect (r = .40, p = .03).
Conclusions:
These findings support the potential yield of integrating temperament with eating self-regulation assessments in studies of early obesity risk. A better understanding is needed regarding ways in which parents differentially feed in response to child temperament.
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