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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #378124
Research Project: Preventing the Development of Childhood Obesity

Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center

Title: Exploring parent feeding practices, the home environment, and toddler diet

Author
item LEDOUX, TRACEY - University Of Houston
item CEPNI, ALIVE - University Of Houston
item TAYLOR, ASHLEY - University Of Houston
item CRUMBLEY, CHRISTINE - University Of Houston
item Thompson, Deborah - Debbe
item MORAN, NANCY - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item OLVERA, NORMA - University Of Houston
item O'CONNOR, DANIEL - University Of Houston

Submitted to: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/5/2020
Publication Date: 8/24/2020
Citation: Ledoux, T., Cepni, A., Taylor, A., Crumbley, C., Thompson, D.J., Moran, N., Olvera, N., O'Connor, D. 2020. Exploring parent feeding practices, the home environment, and toddler diet. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 120(9 Suppl):A-80.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: According to the Division of Responsibility, children develop healthy eating behaviors if caregivers create a healthy home environment (i.e., structure feeding) and avoid controlling feeding (Satter, 2008). This study aimed to determine the relationships among structured feeding, the home environment, and toddler's (12-36 months) diet. Parents of toddlers were recruited from the community to complete 1) the Kids Bite Food Frequency Questionnaire (Aquilar et al., 2014) to assess snack, fruit and vegetable (FV), and sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) intake of toddlers; 2) the 22-item Structured Feeding measure of limit setting and consistency in feeding (Savage et al., 2017); and 3) a phone interview to assess home availability of FV, SSB, and snack foods (Fulkerson et al., 2008). All measures are valid for use with parents of toddlers or preschoolers. Spearman rho correlation analyses tested correlations with significance set at p<.05. The sample (n=50) comprised toddlers (M age = 27 months, 58% males) and parents (M age=31.7 years, 84% female), who were Non-Hispanic white (44%), Hispanic/Latino (38%), and/or African American (32%). Limit setting was significantly related to intake (r=-.301, p=.034) of SSB, and intake (r=-.451, p=.001) and availability (r=-.328, p=.028) of snacks. Consistency in feeding was significantly related to intake (r=.592, p<.001) and availability (r=.350, p=.018) of FV; and intake (r=-.295, p=.031) and availability (r=-.303, p=.043) of SSB. We concluded that dimensions of structured feeding were related to dietary intake and home environment of toddler age children.