Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of daily mealtime coparenting

Applying the Family Stress Model to responsive feeding and early obesity prevention

Rapid weight gain during infancy and obesity during early childhood may lead to adverse health outcomes during later childhood and into adulthood, especially in families experiencing economic hardship. Families experiencing economic hardship may also experience food insecurity, which can impact child development and responsive feeding, an important target for obesity prevention in early life. The Family Stress Model suggests that stress, particularly economic hardship, can negatively impact parents' mental health, parenting, and quality of family relationships. This review proposes a conceptual model that expands upon the original Family Stress Model by including parent-child dyadic interactions during feeding (i.e., responsive feeding) as well as the coparenting relationship around feeding. Our conceptual model integrates responsive feeding into the Family Stress Model and includes the impact of food insecurity on feeding and child health outcomes. Such models that consider multiple influences on child development have implications for the design of effective interventions to promote healthy growth for entire families. Future directions in this research will empirically test the model and explore early intervention strategies that aim to promote responsive feeding, nutrition security, and health within families. Continuing interdisciplinary research between the fields of nutrition and family development will be key to addressing the complex interplay of family stressors, parent responsiveness, and childhood obesity.

Food parenting and Children's eating behaviour: Exploring the role of coparenting

Parents have primary influence over the development of their children's eating behaviours, however less attention has been given to whether or how their coparenting plays a role in this association. The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional associations between mothers' and fathers' food parenting practices and children's eating behaviour and examine whether coparenting quality moderates or confounds these associations. Parents (222 mothers and 167 fathers) with children 18 months to 5 years completed an online survey that assessed their food parenting practices and coparenting quality. One parent per family (91% mothers) also reported their children's food approach behaviours. We used linear regressions with generalized estimating equations to examine the associations between food parenting practices and children's eating behaviours. To explore moderation by coparenting quality, we included an interaction term in each model (coparenting quality x food parenting practice). To explore confounding, models were adjusted for coparenting quality. All models were stratified by parent gender and included parent educational attainment, child age, and child BMI z-scores as covariates. Among both mothers and fathers, we found that structure and autonomy support food parenting practices were inversely associated with children's food responsiveness, and desire to drink, while coercive control practices were positively associated with these food approach behaviours. We found the opposite direction of association between these food parenting practices and children's enjoyment of food. Among mothers, autonomy support was inversely associated with children's emotional overeating, while coercive control was positively associated with this eating behaviour. Coparenting quality did not moderate or confound the associations. Future studies should continue to explore these associations among families with young children and consider feeding coparenting in the association.

Associations between feeding coparenting and food parenting practices: An observational study

Feeding coparenting, defined as the way that parents work together and support each other in food parenting, is an emerging area of research. Understanding how feeding coparenting may influence the practices parents use when feeding children can help to inform strategies to support positive food parenting. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between observed feeding coparenting and observed food parenting practices among 68 families with children 18 months to 5 years of age. Videos of mealtimes were used to assess observed feeding coparenting and food parenting practices. Observed feeding coparenting was coded using the Observed Feeding Coparenting Tool and observed food parenting practices were coded using the Family Mealtime Coding System. Linear regressions were used to examine associations between observed feeding coparenting and observed food parenting practices. Higher total feeding coparenting scores were associated with less frequent verbal restriction from mothers, more positive comments about food from fathers, and better mealtime tone. Higher supportive feeding was associated with less frequent verbal restrictions from mothers, more frequent physical pressure to eat from fathers, and more positive comments from fathers about food. Higher meal enjoyment among fathers was associated with better mealtime tone. Results of this study highlight the importance of assessing feeding coparenting in studies exploring food parenting and family meals, and the potential value of developing interventions that aim to support parents in working together at mealtime and in feeding.

Daily variability in mothers' and fathers' feeding practices and associations with children's eating behaviors

The current study explores daily variability in maternal and paternal pressuring, restrictive, and structure-related feeding practices and their associations with child energy regulation and food refusal. Multilevel models were run separately for mothers and fathers to understand these associations, as well as within a dyadic framework to account for the interdependence of partners. One hundred families with at least one child between 3- to 5-years old participated by completing seven days of daily diaries. Results suggest there is daily variability in feeding practices for mothers and fathers and children's energy regulation and food refusal. Mothers' daily reports (within family variability) suggested that on days when mothers used more pressure and less structure than usual, children showed more food refusal. Fathers' daily reports suggested that on days when fathers used more pressure or less structure, children showed less energy regulation. On average across the week (between family variability), maternal pressure and restriction was related to child energy regulation. Dyadic multilevel models suggested that fathers' daily feeding behavior was associated with child eating behavior, while mothers' pressure and restrictive feeding on average across the week was a better predictor of between family variability in child eating behavior. For provision of support or structure during feeding, maternal structure was related to less father-reported energy regulation and paternal structure was related to more father-reported energy regulation. The results highlight the necessity of considering both mothers' and fathers' behaviors from day-to-day to get a more authentic picture of the family feeding relationship.