Parental monitoring may protect impulsive children from overeating:Monitoring intake in impulsive children

Abstract

Background: Research has highlighted links between impulsivity and weight inchildren and adults. Nevertheless, little is known about the nature of this link in veryyoung children or about the underlying mechanism by which impulsivity leads togreater adiposity.Objective: The present study aimed to explore relationships between impulsivity,weight and eating behaviour in a sample of 95 2 to 4-year-olds. Method: Parent–child dyads visited the laboratory and consumed a meal afterwhich parents completed measures of child impulsivity, eating behaviour andparental feeding, whilst children completed impulsivity tasks measuring theimpulsivity facet delay of gratification (Snack Delay task), motor impulsivity (LineWalking task) and inhibitory control (Tower task). Results: Pearson’s correlations showed that girls with greater motor impulsivitywere heavier. Additionally, monitoring moderated the relationship betweenimpulsivity and food approach behaviour, indicating that monitoring may protectmore impulsive children from displaying problematic eating behaviours. Conclusions: The motor impulsivity facet appears particularly relevant to childweight; parents can modulate the impact of impulsivity on child eating behaviourthrough their feeding style.