title: Parenting around child snacking: development of a theoretically-guided, empirically informed conceptual model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Snacking contributes to excessive energy intakes in children. Yet factors shaping child snacking are virtually unstudied. This study examines food parenting practices specific to child snacking among low-income caregivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured interviews were conducted in English or Spanish with 60 low-income caregivers of preschool-aged children (18 non-Hispanic white, 22 African American/Black, 20 Hispanic; 92% mothers). A structured interview guide was used to solicit caregivers' definitions of snacking and strategies they use to decide what, when and how much snack their child eats. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an iterative theory-based and grounded approach. A conceptual model of food parenting specific to child snacking was developed to summarize the findings and inform future research.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caregivers' descriptions of food parenting practices specific to child snacking were consistent with previous models of food parenting developed based on expert opinion [1, 2]. A few noteworthy differences however emerged. More than half of participants mentioned permissive feeding approaches (e.g., my child is the boss when it comes to snacks). As a result, permissive feeding was included as a higher order feeding dimension in the resulting model. In addition, a number of novel feeding approaches specific to child snacking emerged including child-centered provision of snacks (i.e., responding to a child's hunger cues when making decisions about snacks), parent unilateral decision making (i.e., making decisions about a child's snacks without any input from the child), and excessive monitoring of snacks (i.e., monitoring all snacks provided to and consumed by the child). The resulting conceptual model includes four higher order feeding dimensions including autonomy support, coercive control, structure and permissiveness and 20 sub-dimensions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study formulates a language around food parenting practices specific to child snacking, identifies dominant constructs, and proposes a conceptual framework to guide future research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02445, USA. kdavison@hsph.harvard.edu.|Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02445, USA. kdavison@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Kirsten K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Davison
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02445, USA.|Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, , 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA, 90840-0501, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Blaine
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Younginer
authors.affiliation: Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3323 N Broad St, Suite 175, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orloski
authors.affiliation: Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3323 N Broad St, Suite 175, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Heather A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Hamtil
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02445, USA.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ganter
authors.affiliation: Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3323 N Broad St, Suite 175, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Yasmeen P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Bruton
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1700 Martin L. King Jr. Blvd, CB 7426, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7426, USA.
authors.forename: Amber E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.affiliation: Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3323 N Broad St, Suite 175, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet / Q000379:methods*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D062410:Snacks / Q000502:physiology*