title: Maternal behavior as a predictor of sibling interactions during mealtimes.
abstract: Children who frequently experience encouragement or pressure to eat are more likely to exhibit less favorable eating behaviors and dietary outcomes. Siblings can encourage or pressure each other to eat during mealtimes, but the role of mothers in shaping sibling mealtime interactions is not understood. The objective of this study was to examine the association between the behavior of mothers and siblings during mealtimes. The associations of maternal presence and maternal engagement with children during mealtimes with encouragements to eat delivered by the child to his/her sibling were examined. Children aged 4-8years (n=73) were videotaped while eating a routine evening meal at home with one sibling present. Encouragement to eat delivered by the index child to the sibling, maternal presence, and non-food-related and food-related maternal engagement were coded from the videotapes. Poisson regression showed that maternal presence was associated with fewer encouragements to eat from the index child to the sibling (rate ratio (RR): 0.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.26, 0.62). Each type of maternal engagement was independently associated with the number of encouragements to eat from the index child to the sibling: maternal engagement that was not food-related was associated with fewer encouragements to eat (RR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.73), while maternal engagement that was food-related was associated with more encouragements to eat (RR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.22, 1.81). Future studies may explore how sibling interactions may mediate links between maternal behavior during mealtimes and children's health-related outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Clinical Nutrition Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: rmosli@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Rana H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Mosli
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States. Electronic address: alimill@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Alison L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States. Electronic address: karenep@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States. Electronic address: agearhar@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Ashley N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Gearhardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States; Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States. Electronic address: jlumeng@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Julie C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lumeng
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D062407:Meals / Q000523:psychology*; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology*; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods
keywords: Mealtime; Mothers; Siblings; Videotape recording