Characteristic (N = 1658)Parent: MN age 28.9 ± 7.0

MN BMI 27.1 ± 6.2%

Parent Gender

Male

Female

1.6

98.4

Parent Race

White

African American

Other

81.1

17.6

1.3

Parent Education Level

High School or Less

High School Graduate

Some College or Technical School

College Graduate or More

16.2

38.1

24.8

20.8

Household Income

<$15,000

$15,000 - $24,999

$24,999 - $49,999

>$50,000

18.3

23.6

30.5

27.5

Characteristics of

Non-Coercive Parents and

Coercive Parents

Logistic Regression

Significance

Demographics

Younger parents are more likely to use coercive feeding strategies.

More educated parents are less likely to use coercive feeding strategies.

Non-coercive parents are more likely to be married.

Coercive parents are more likely to have a lower income than non-coercive parents.

p<.001

p=.042

p<.001

p<.001

BMICoercive parents are more likely to have a lower BMI than non-coercive parents.

p=.035

The Short and Long-term Impact of Coercive Feeding Strategies on Children

Holly Bante, B.A., Amanda Harrod, M.P.H., Michael Elliott, Ph.D., Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D.

BackgroundPrevalence of obesity among children is high and increasing.

Parental feeding practices may promote overweight in children and adversely affect a child’s ability to develop food preferences.

“Clean your plate”, One-Bite rule, and reward systems may undermine the child’s ability to self-regulate food intake, altering the natural response to internal satiety cues.

Fruit and vegetable preferences have been shown to be significant predictors of fruit and vegetable intake.

ApplicationChild-feeding practices impact food preferences and intake.

Interventions need to address the factors that determine food preferences during early development to increase lifelong consumption.

Efforts should be made to:

1. Identify aspects of the family environment that may lead to obesigenic patterns.

2. Identify the link between coercive feeding strategies and childhood overweight and obesity.Specific Aim

The High 5 for Kids is a community based program designed to intervene with parents to promote their preschool children’s (age 3-5) preference for and intake of fruits and vegetables.

Demographics

AcknowledgmentsThis project was funded by the National Cancer Institute.

This work was completed in collaboration with educators and families from Parents as Teachers.

Results

Short-term: Children of coercive parents consumed higher amounts of fruits and vegetables than children of non-coercive parents.

Long-term: FV preferences were similar between children of both coercive and non-coercive parents. Although parents who used coercive strategies were successful in increasing consumption of FV in the short-term, once those children leave that environment, long-term intake of FV may decrease as preferences for FV did not change.

*Significant only for children whose parents reported frequently using rewards to encourage them to try new foods

Characteristics Non-Coercive Parents Coercive Parents T-Test Significance

Modeling

Children of non-coercive parents are more likely to observe parental modeling of FV intake.

MN=6.28 times/wk

Children of coercive parents are less likely to observe parental modeling of FV intake.

MN=5.80 times/wk

p=.021

FV Consumption*

Children of non-coercive parents are less likely to eat more FV.

MN=4.78 servings/day

Children of coercive parents are more likely to eat more FV.

MN=5.02 servings/day

p=.042

AwarenessParents are more likely to worry that their child is overweight.

Parents are less likely to worry that their child is overweight.

p<.001

Preference for FVChildren of coercive parents had a decreased preference for fruits and vegetables than children of non-coercive parents.

Fruits p=.016

Vegetables p<.001