The Food Parenting Inventory: Factor structure, reliability, and validity in a low-income, Latina sample

Authors: POWER, THOMAS - Washington State University; JOHNSON, SUSAN - University Of Colorado; BECK, ASHLEY - Washington State University; MARTINEZ, ANAMARIA - Washington State University Extension Service; HUGHES, SHERYL - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Appetite
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/29/2018
Publication Date: 3/1/2019
Citation: Power, T.G., Johnson, S.L., Beck, A.D., Martinez, A.D., Hughes, S.O. 2019. The Food Parenting Inventory: Factor structure, reliability, and validity in a low-income, Latina sample. Appetite. 134:111-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.11.033.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.11.033

Interpretive Summary: Studies have shown the important role of parental feeding styles and practices on the development of child eating behaviors and weight with a number of questionnaires measuring parental feeding used by researchers. Though these questionnaires cover a wide range of food parenting practices, the major focus has been on coercive control with important aspects of the feeding process unintentionally omitted. These include parental responsiveness to children's fullness cues, strategies to encourage children to try new foods, and practices related to children's portion sizes. To address this gap, we developed the Food Parenting Inventory (FPI), which targets encouragement of new foods, mealtime structure, and external control. We examined the reliability and validity of the FPI by administering the questionnaire to 248 low-income, Latina mothers who completed information on parental feeding and child eating behaviors. Results of the study support the validity and reliability of the FPI with a low-income Latino sample through associations with other similar measures of feeding and child eating. This new food parenting questionnaire examines important constructs of interest to researchers that have not been adequately covered in other measures. This questionnaire can be useful to both researchers and practitioners who are interested in single questionnaire assessing a wide range of feeding practices. The FPI advances the area of parental feeding assessment by measuring a much broader array of practices.

Technical Abstract: Currently, a number of questionnaires exist assessing a wide range of food parenting practices with young children. In 2016, a concept map covering three food parenting domains-coercive control, parental structure, and autonomy support-was published along with a critical review of the literature. Mapping existing food parenting questionnaires onto these concepts showed that the major focus had been on coercive control. Important aspects of the parenting process around feeding have been inadvertently omitted-parental responsiveness to children's fullness cues, parental strategies to encourage children to try new foods, and parental practices related to children's portion sizes. To address this, we developed the Food Parenting Inventory (FPI) targeting encouragement of new foods, mealtime structure, and external control. This new questionnaire draws from a variety of sources including the Child Feeding Questionnaire and the Family Rituals Questionnaire. The FPI addresses most of the food parenting practices outlined in the concept map with the exception of food availability/accessibility, food preparation, and praise. Psychometrics were assessed with a sample of 248 low-income, Latina mothers who completed questionnaires on food parenting practices, parental feeding styles, and child eating behaviors. Findings suggest good initial evidence for the reliability and validity of the FPI among Latina families with preschoolers. This questionnaire advances the field of food parenting by targeting neglected constructs that play an important role in the development of child eating behaviors.