title: Maternal encouragement and discouragement: Differences by food type and child weight status.
abstract: Childhood obesity prevention practice guidelines recommend that parents encourage the intake of certain types of foods and discourage the intake of others. It is unknown if parents of children of different weight statuses encourage or discourage their child's intake differently based on food type. The objective of this study was to determine the association of child weight status with maternal encouragement and discouragement of for four different types of food. A total of 222 mother-child dyads were video-taped during the standardized, sequential presentation of four foods to both participants: cupcakes (familiar dessert), green beans (familiar vegetable), halva (unfamiliar dessert) and artichoke (unfamiliar vegetable). Mother's encouragements and discouragements of child intake were reliably coded for each food type. Poisson regression models were used to test the independent association of child weight status (normal weight, overweight and obese) with encouragement and discouragement for each food type. Mothers of an obese, vs. normal or overweight child, had lower rates of encouragement for a familiar dessert (p = 0.02), and a higher rates of discouragements for a familiar dessert (p = 0.001), a familiar vegetable (p = 0.01), and an unfamiliar vegetable (p = 0.001). There were no differences in encouragements or discouragements between mothers of an overweight, vs. obese child, for any of the 4 food types. Mothers of obese children may alter their feeding behavior differentially based on food type. Future work should examine how interventions promoting maternal encouragement or discouragement of different food types impact child weight status.
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan, 1540 E. Hospital Drive SPC 5718, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5718, USA. Electronic address: pesch@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Megan H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Pesch
authors.affiliation: Appugliese Professional Advisors, North Easton, MA, USA. Electronic address: dpappugliese@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Danielle P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Appugliese
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA; Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, USA. Electronic address: nicola@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaciroti
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of Michigan, USA. Electronic address: katier@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Rosenblum
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, USA; Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA. Electronic address: alimill@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Alison L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan, 1540 E. Hospital Drive SPC 5718, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5718, USA; Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, USA; Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA. Electronic address: jlumeng@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Julie C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lumeng
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables
keywords: Child; Feeding behavior; Mothers; Mother–child relations; Pediatric obesity