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Examining parents’ experiences and challenges of feeding preschool children with avid eating behaviour
Avid eating behaviors, characterized by heightened responsiveness to food cues and emotional overeating, have been linked to childhood overweight and obesity. Parental feeding practices represent adaptable elements of a child’s food environment. They could serve as pivotal tools for behavior modification in tailored interventions designed to aid parents of children with avid eating behaviors. Nevertheless, a research gap exists regarding parents’ experiences in this realm. Edwards et al. (2024) endeavored to explore parents’ interactions with feeding children exhibiting intense eating behaviors and to grasp any challenges they encounter in this context. Through semi-structured interviews involving parents (N = 15) of preschool-aged children (3–5 years) identified as displaying avid eating behaviors, the study investigated the manifestation of these behaviors, the feeding strategies parents employ to manage them, and the perceived effectiveness of these approaches. Employing reflexive thematic analysis, the data revealed four central themes. The first theme, ‘Have they got worms? Children’s ‘insatiable hunger’ explores how parental interpretations of the miscellaneous nature of avid eating behavior. The second theme, ‘parenthood as a duty,’ showcases how a parent’s perception of responsibilities impacts the feeding practices of their children. Theme three, ‘lifelong habits,’ examines how parents use responsive feeding practices to instill a healthy relationship with food in their children. Lastly, theme four, ‘picking battles,’ explores the structured and coercive feeding strategies commonly utilized to address children’s intense eating behaviors. This innovative study better explains how intense eating behaviors in children manifest and the strategic and imaginative feeding practices parents employ to navigate them. Such insights hold significant value for guiding the development of future support resources to assist parents and caregivers in fostering a healthy relationship with food for children exhibiting intense eating behaviors. [NPID: Avid eating, food approach, eating behaviour, children, parental feeding practices]
Year: 2024
