title: Are parents' anxiety and depression related to child fussy eating?
abstract: To examine the association between parental anxiety and depression with child fussy eating-that is, consistent rejection of particular food items.
  
  
  
  This study was embedded in Generation R, a prospective cohort from fetal life onwards in the Netherlands.
  
  
  
  Population-based.
  
  
  
  4746 4-year-old children and their parents.
  
  
  
  Parental internalising problems (ie, symptoms of anxiety and depression) were assessed with the Brief Symptoms Inventory during pregnancy and the preschool period (child age 3 years).
  
  
  
  The food fussiness scale of the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire.
  
  
  
  Maternal anxiety during pregnancy and during the child's preschool period was related to higher food fussiness sum-scores in children. For instance, per point on the anxiety scale in pregnancy, children had on average a 1.02 higher sum-score (95% CI 0.59 to 1.46) on the food fussiness scale, after adjustment for confounders. Likewise, mothers' depressive symptoms at both time points were associated with fussy eating behaviour in their children (eg, in the antenatal period: per point on the depression scale, children had a 0.91 point higher sum-score on the food fussiness scale, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.33). We found largely similar associations between fathers' internalising problems and children's fussy eating. However, fathers' anxiety during the antenatal period was not related to child fussy eating.
  
  
  
  Maternal and paternal internalising problems were prospectively associated with fussy eating in preschoolers. Healthcare practitioners should be aware that non-clinical symptoms of anxiety and depression in parents are risk factors for child fussy eating.
authors.affiliation: The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lisanne M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de Barse
authors.affiliation: Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cardona Cano
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pauline W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vincent V W
authors.initials: VVW
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Oscar H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemeier
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, København K, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tharner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009426:Netherlands; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Child Psychology; Epidemiology; Nutrition