J Nutr Health.  2022 Apr;55(2):296-308. 10.4163/jnh.2022.55.2.296.

The effect of the mother's modeling and feeding practices on the eating behavior of young children

• Sim H
• Han Y
• Lee KA

• KMID: 2529472
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4163/jnh.2022.55.2.296

Abstract

Purpose
To investigate the effect of a mother's modeling and feeding practices on the eating behavior of the children.
Methods
From April to June 2018, 1,036 young children aged 2 to 6 years and their mothers in Gyeongsan, Gyeongsangbuk-do, were examined for their eating behavior and feeding practices using a verified dietary behavior test (DBT). The children's dietary behavior was classified into four categories: “access evasiveness”, “sensory acuity”, “hyperactivity”, and “irregularity”. The mother's eating behavior was classified into three categories: “pickiness”, “negligence”, and “irregularity”, and feeding practice types were classified into two categories: “responsibility/monitoring”, and “restriction/pressure”. The differences between the groups were tested using the t-test, ANOVA, and Duncan's multiple range test. The influence of feeding practices on the children's eating behavior was analyzed by hierarchical regression analysis while controlling for the mother’s modeling.
Results
The problem rates of irregularity, negligence and pickiness in the mother's modeling were 33.7%, 22.8%, and 20.7%, respectively. An analysis of the mother's feeding practices revealed that responsibility/monitoring had a middle, high and low significance in 74.2%, 17.3%, and 8.5% of respondents, respectively and the risk rate of restriction/pressure when guiding children to eat was 15.3%. The problem rates for sensory acuity, access evasiveness, irregularity, and hyperactivity in children were 27.9%, 26.1%, 24.8%, and 22.0%, respectively. Among the four eating behavior characteristics of children, the child's access evasiveness and sensory acuity were more affected by their pickiness rather than the mother's feeding practices, and the child's hyperactivity was more influenced by feeding practices than the mother's eating behavior. The child's irregularity was similarly affected by the mother's eating behavior and feeding practices.
Conclusion
Since the mother's eating behavior and feeding practices affect the children's eating behavior, a diet improvement program for children should consider not only the nutrition education of children but also the mother's eating behavior and provide the necessary intervention for feeding practices.

Keyword

behavior test; parents; eating behavior; feeding practices