Predicting Use of Ineffective Responsive, Structure and Control Vegetable Parenting Practices with the Model of Goal Directed Behavior

SmartFeeding4Kids, an online self-guided parenting intervention to promote positive feeding practices and healthy diet in young children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

Caregivers’ influence on young children’s eating behaviors is widely recognized. Nutritional interventions that focus on the promotion of children’s healthy diet should actively involve parents, focusing on their feeding behaviors and practices.

Methods

This work aims to describe the development and study protocol of the SmartFeeding4Kids (SF4K) program, an online self-guided 7-session intervention for parents of young (2–6 years old) children. The program is informed by social cognitive, self-regulation, and habit formation theoretical models and uses self-regulatory techniques as self-monitoring, goal setting, and feedback to promote behavior change. We propose to examine the intervention efficacy on children’s intake of fruit, vegetables, and added sugars, and parental feeding practices with a two-arm randomized controlled with four times repeated measures design (baseline, immediately, 3 and 6 months after intervention). Parental perceived barriers about food and feeding, food parenting self-efficacy, and motivation to change will be analyzed as secondary outcomes. The study of the predictors of parents’ dropout rates and the trajectories of parents’ and children’s outcomes are also objectives of this work.

Discussion

The SmartFeeding4Kids program relies on technological resources to deliver parents’ self-regulation techniques that proved effective in promoting health behaviors. The study design can enhance the knowledge about the most effective methodologies to change parental feeding practices and children’s food intake. As a self-guided online program, SmartFeeding4Kids might overcome parents’ attrition more effectively, besides being easy to disseminate and cost-effective.

Trial registration

The study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04591496) on October 19, 2020.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05897-z.

Exploring Determinants of Parent Behaviors During Eating Episodes

OBJECTIVE

To develop a conceptual model of determinants of parent feeding behaviors with preschoolers.

DESIGN

Semistructured in-depth interviews were collected and transcribed verbatim.

SETTING

University of Houston.

PARTICIPANTS

Parents of preschool-aged children (aged 2-5 years).

PHENOMENON OF INTEREST

Determinants of parent behaviors during eating episodes with preschoolers.

ANALYSIS

Trained coders conducted thematic analysis with constant comparison of all interviews.

RESULTS

The final sample (n = 20) included predominantly white (60%), married (70%) mothers (75%) from middle socioeconomic conditions (100% had at least some college education; 70% had a household income >$50,000). Five categories of themes emerged: child behaviors, proactive parent behaviors, reactive parent behaviors, contextual factors, and parent beliefs. The themes were organized into a conceptual model to describe how parents and children influenced each other's behaviors depending on the context and parent beliefs of themselves and their child.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

A conceptual model outlining several determinants of parent feeding behaviors among preschoolers was developed. Next steps in the research are to validate the conceptual model identified in this qualitative study on a large, nationally representative sample.

Predicting habits of vegetable parenting practices to facilitate the design of change programmes

OBJECTIVE

Habit has been defined as the automatic performance of a usual behaviour. The present paper reports the relationships of variables from a Model of Goal Directed Behavior to four scales in regard to parents' habits when feeding their children: habit of (i) actively involving child in selection of vegetables; (ii) maintaining a positive vegetable environment; (iii) positive communications about vegetables; and (iv) controlling vegetable practices. We tested the hypothesis that the primary predictor of each habit variable would be the measure of the corresponding parenting practice.

DESIGN

Internet survey data from a mostly female sample. Primary analyses employed regression modelling with backward deletion, controlling for demographics and parenting practices behaviour.

SETTING

Houston, Texas, USA.

SUBJECTS

Parents of 307 pre-school (3-5-year-old) children.

RESULTS

Three of the four models accounted for about 50 % of the variance in the parenting practices habit scales. Each habit scale was primarily predicted by the corresponding parenting practices scale (suggesting validity). The habit of active child involvement in vegetable selection was also most strongly predicted by two barriers and rudimentary self-efficacy; the habit of maintaining a positive vegetable environment by one barrier; the habit of maintaining positive communications about vegetables by an emotional scale; and the habit of controlling vegetable practices by a perceived behavioural control scale.

CONCLUSIONS

The predictiveness of the psychosocial variables beyond parenting practices behaviour was modest. Discontinuing the habit of ineffective controlling parenting practices may require increasing the parent's perceived control of parenting practices, perhaps through simulated parent-child interactions.

Predicting use of effective vegetable parenting practices with the Model of Goal Directed Behavior

OBJECTIVE

To model effective vegetable parenting practices using the Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices construct scales.

DESIGN

An Internet survey was conducted with parents of pre-school children to assess their agreement with effective vegetable parenting practices and Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices items. Block regression modelling was conducted using the composite score of effective vegetable parenting practices scales as the outcome variable and the Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices constructs as predictors in separate and sequential blocks: demographics, intention, desire (intrinsic motivation), perceived barriers, autonomy, relatedness, self-efficacy, habit, anticipated emotions, perceived behavioural control, attitudes and lastly norms. Backward deletion was employed at the end for any variable not significant at P<0·05.

SETTING

Houston, TX, USA.

SUBJECTS

Three hundred and seven parents (mostly mothers) of pre-school children.

RESULTS

Significant predictors in the final model in order of relationship strength included habit of active child involvement in vegetable selection, habit of positive vegetable communications, respondent not liking vegetables, habit of keeping a positive vegetable environment and perceived behavioural control of having a positive influence on child's vegetable consumption. The final model's adjusted R 2 was 0·486.

CONCLUSIONS

This was the first study to test scales from a behavioural model to predict effective vegetable parenting practices. Further research needs to assess these Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices scales for their (i) predictiveness of child consumption of vegetables in longitudinal samples and (ii) utility in guiding design of vegetable parenting practices interventions.

Predicting Use of Ineffective Responsive, Structure and Control Vegetable Parenting Practices with the Model of Goal Directed Behavior

This study reports the modeling of three categories of ineffective vegetable parenting practices (IVPP) separately (responsive, structure, and control vegetable parenting practices). An internet survey was employed for a cross sectional assessment of parenting practices and cognitive-emotional variables. Parents (n=307) of preschool children (3-5 years old) were recruited through announcements and postings. Models were analyzed with block regression and backward deletion procedures using a composite IVPP scale as the dependent variable. The independent variables included validated scales from a Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices (MGDVPP), including: intention, habit, perceived barriers, desire, competence, autonomy, relatedness, attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control, and anticipated emotions. The available scales accounted for 26.5%, 16.7% and 44.6% of the variance in the IVPP responsive, structure and control subscales, respectively. Different sets of diverse variables predicted the three IVPP constructs. Intentions, Habits and Perceived Behavioral Control were strong predictors for each of the IVPP constructs, but the subscales were specific to each IVPP construct. Parent emotional responses, an infrequently investigated variable, was an important predictor of ineffective responsive vegetable parenting practices and ineffective structure vegetable parenting practices, but not ineffective control vegetable parenting practices. An Attitude subscale and a Norms subscale predicted ineffective responsive vegetable parenting practices alone. This was the first report of psychometrically tested scales to predict use of IVPP subscales. Further research is needed to verify these findings in larger longitudinal cohorts. Interventions to increase child vegetable intake may have to reduce IVPP.