Child caregiver feeding behaviors, child eating behaviors, and weight status of preschool-aged children in the United States and China
Creators: name: Rielly, Theresa
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2022

description: Childhood obesity is an expanding problem throughout the world, with the prevalence varying considerably worldwide. A greater understanding of child caregiver feeding behaviors and child eating behaviors and the relationship of these behaviors to children’s weight status is needed. Thus, one purpose of this study was to explore these relationships in preschool-age children in the United States. A second purpose was to compare findings from the United States with a comparable study conducted in China to explore cross-cultural differences. The online Home Obesogenicity Measure of EnvironmentS (HOMES) survey conducted in the United States with 412 mothers of children aged 3 to 5 years was analyzed and compared with similar survey data collected from 768 caregivers of children aged 3 to 5 years living in China. These surveys gathered sociodemographic data and assessed child feeding practices and child eating behaviors. The secondary analysis of U.S. data revealed mothers had low concern with child weight and their concern did not differ by child BMI status. The 5 types of child feeding practices assessed (i.e., pressures child to eat, restricts child food intake, rewards child with food, controls child food access, and controls child intake) showed no significant differences by child BMI status. When comparing children’s eating behaviors (i.e., food neophobia, child self-regulation, and emotional eating) by child BMI status, few significant differences were noted. Thus, the data from this sample of mothers from the United States indicate that their child feeding behaviors and their children’s eating behaviors did not differ by the BMI status of their preschool children. Concern about child weight, caregiver feeding behaviors, and child eating behaviors of U.S. mothers were compared with China caregivers. China caregivers had higher concern about child weight and used pressure and controlling child feeding behaviors more than U.S. mothers. While China caregivers reported that children exhibited less frequent food neophobia behaviors than their U.S. counterparts, both groups of participants reported similar child eating self-regulation behaviors. China child emotional eating scores were higher than U.S. children. The reasons for these differences in U.S. mothers and China caregivers are not clear, however they may be related to parenting styles. Traditionally, Chinese parenting is considered authoritarian emphasizing high standards and a tendency to control children. Whereas, in the U.S., permissive and authoritative parenting are common. Permissive parents tend to accept and reinforce a child's impulses, desires, and actions with little or no redirection. Authoritative parents attempt to direct children in a rational and logic driven manner. The findings of the China study suggest that the low control over child eating exerted by caregivers, greater child self-regulation, food neophobia, and emotional eating were associated with a higher child weight status. With the exception of emotional eating, these findings are in contrast with studies conducted in the U.S. Future research should model these relationships and aim to investigate why the associations in the study of China caregivers tend to differ from research conducted in Western countries. These findings can inform the development of culturally tailored nutrition education interventions. Additionally, future studies should investigate how parenting styles affect child feeding and child eating behaviors and aim to understand impact of cultural differences on these behaviors.