Predicting structure- and control-based parental feeding practices among families with low-income: An ecological...

Parental feeding practices (hereafter referred to as feeding practices) influence child weight outcomes, but few studies have identified which obesogenic risk factors shape their feeding practices using an ecological approach, especially among families with low-income. The goals of the current study were to examine the unique contribution of A) child appetitive traits, B) parent psychosocial factors, and C) home environment factors on parental use of structure- and control-based feeding practices. Parents of Head Start preschoolers (N = 253) completed measures of feeding practices, child appetitive traits, and parent psychosocial and home environment factors. Hierarchical regressions were used to test the ecological levels that contribute to feeding practices explained by child appetitive traits, and the additional variance contributed by parent psychosocial and home environment factors. Results indicate that 10% of the variance was explained for the structure super-factor, with the home environment explaining 3% over and above child appetitive traits and psychosocial factors. For control-based feeding, the total model accounted for 18% of the variance. Child appetitive traits explained most of the variance (14%) whereas the home environment did not predict any variance over and above appetitive traits and psychosocial factors. These findings underscore the need to consider multiple ecological levels to better understand the complex factors that shape how parents engage with their children during feeding opportunities and the potential impact on child growth and development.