Longitudinal Change in Eating Competence of Adults and Their School-Age Children

Examine the change in eating competence (EatC) over time in adults and children; explore the relationship between parent and child EatC.

Survey assessment at 4 timepoints up to 6 years after baseline.

Elementary classroom and online survey.

Parent and child participants of the Fuel for Fun study. Adults (n = 406) were mostly female, White, and educated. Children (n = 296) were fourth graders, mostly White.

For children, Fuel for Fun or control classrooms; for parents, About Eating, family-based activities, or no intervention.

Eating competence, potential moderators (e.g., physical activity level, parent feeding strategy), or mediators (e.g., stress, body mass index, child fruit and vegetable preference).

Linear mixed models with fixed effects for repeated measures. Bivariate and partial Pearson correlation coefficients.

Eating competence tenets were affirmed, and EatC did not change over the measurement period for parents or children. For both parents and children, initial and final EatC measures were significantly correlated, but not between parents and their children.

Eating competence is a stable construct. Changing EatC may require a focused inclusion of Satter eating competence model tenets rather than information or activities that inhibit EatC (e.g., required tastings, pressure to eat fruit/vegetables, emphasis on weight loss).