Connections between parental eating attitudes and children's meagre eating: questionnaire findings.
This study investigated whether young children's problematic, meagre eating is associated with the eating habits and attitudes of the parents. The subjects, 397 children, their mothers (n = 397) and fathers (n = 375) participated in a prospective atherosclerosis risk-factor intervention trial. The parents evaluated their own eating behaviour in questionnaires when their child was 13 mo old. The children's eating problems were recorded by the mothers when the child was 13 mo old, and by both parents when the child was 5 y old. At both ages, the weight and height of the children were measured. Problematic or maladaptive eating habits of the children were found to be connected to those of their parents. The mother's poor ability to enjoy eating, high tendency to snack and low tendency to eat only when hungry, as well as the father's difficulty in maintaining ideal weight significantly predicted persistent problems of meagre eating in their children.


CONCLUSIONS
The study suggests that the eating habits and attitudes of parents may be reflected in the eating behaviour of young children.
Saarilehto
S
S
Cardiorespiratory Research Unit, University of Turku, Finland.
Keskinen
S
S
Lapinleimu
H
H
Helenius
H
H
Simell
O
O
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires