Parents’ use of coercive and indulgent feeding practices for children with avid eating behaviour: an Ecological Momentary Assessment study

Abstract

Background: Children with avid eating behaviour display high food responsiveness, high emotional overeating and low sensitivity to fullness; behaviours which may increase the risk of obesity and are challenging for parents to manage. This study explores the situational predictors of coercive or indulgent feeding practices among parents of children with avid eating behaviours using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Methods: The study involved 109 parents of 3-5-year-old children exhibiting avid eating behaviour. Over 10 days, participants completed EMA surveys via a mobile app to report on their mood, stress, feeding goals, and feeding practices during eating occasions. Multilevel modelling was used to assess how parental mood, goals, and the eating context (e.g., meal versus snack, public versus private setting) influenced feeding practices. Results: Parents were more likely to use specific coercive or indulgent feeding practices when experiencing higher stress, when aiming to avoid mealtime conflict, and during meals versus snacks. A negative meal atmosphere and a public setting also increased the likelihood of certain indulgent practices. Notably, parents were more likely to report giving their child food to calm them down or help manage their behaviour when the meal atmosphere was perceived as negative and if they aimed to reduce conflict at the meal. The findings highlight that the context of feeding occasions significantly drives the use of coercive or indulgent feeding practices. Conclusions: Parental stress, goals, and the eating context are key determinants of coercive or indulgent feeding practices with children exhibiting avid eating behaviours. Interventions to support parents should consider these dynamic factors, promoting healthier feeding strategies tailored to real-life contexts.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-025-01715-w
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Psychology
College of Health & Life Sciences > Aston Institute of Health & Neurodevelopment (AIHN)
College of Health & Life Sciences
Aston University (General)
Funding Information: This work was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research grant (ES/V014153/1). The funding organizations had no role in the design and conduct of the study, collection, management, analysis and interpretation of data, and prepara
Additional Information: Copyright © The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA),Eating behaviour,Coercive/indulgent feeding,Preschoolers,Avid eating
Publication ISSN: 1479-5868
Last Modified: 31 Mar 2025 17:41
Date Deposited: 10 Feb 2025 17:15
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://ijbnpa. ... 966-025-01715-w (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2025-02-07
Published Online Date: 2025-02-07
Accepted Date: 2025-01-22
Authors: Pickard, Abigail
Edwards, Katie L.
Farrow, Claire (ORCID Profile 0000-0003-3745-6610)
Haycraft, Emma
Herle, Moritz
Llewellyn, Clare
Croker, Helen
Kininmonth, Alice
Blissett, Jacqueline (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-0275-6413)

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