Integrating Mindful Feeding Into Responsive Feeding Guidance

Responsive feeding is widely recognized as a best practice in infant and young child feeding, yet the gap between its recommendation and its consistent implementation among caregivers remains a persistent challenge. Mindful feeding, which is defined as present-centered mental and emotional awareness in the feeding context, has emerged as a related but distinct construct that may help explain this gap. While research on mindful feeding is still developing, early evidence suggests it is associated with similar positive outcomes for child nutrition and development as responsive feeding, including improved diet quality and decreased negative mealtime behaviors. This Perspective argues that mindful feeding may function as a promising adjunct to support the intrapersonal conditions that facilitate responsive feeding. By cultivating awareness, emotional regulation, and nonjudgmental receptivity, caregivers may be better equipped to perceive and appropriately respond to children's hunger and satiety cues. Drawing on a comparison of definitions, theoretical frameworks, and measurement tools, we propose that mindful feeding be considered for integration into infant and young child feeding guidance and interventions alongside responsive feeding and identify priorities for research needed to support this integration.