(P27-081-25) Associations Between Parental Feeding Styles, Unhealthy Dietary Intake, and Obesity Risk: Investigating Sweet Beverages and Snack Food Consumption During Early Childhood

Objectives: Parental feeding styles play an important role in shaping children’s dietary behaviors and weight gain. The consumption of unhealthy dietary intake (i.e., sweet beverages and snack foods) has been associated with increased risk of obesity. Thus, this study examined the relationships between parental feeding styles, unhealthy dietary intake, and weight-for-length z-scores (WFLz) in young children.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 96 mother-child dyads with a mean child age of 14.9 (SD = 2.6) months. Mothers completed the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, which categorizes feeding styles into five domains: responsive, restrictive, pressuring, indulgent, and laissez-faire. Child dietary intake was assessed using three 24-hour dietary recalls and entered into the Nutrition Data System for Research. All food and beverages were categorized by trained researchers as sweet beverages (e.g., sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% juice) and snack foods (e.g., chips and cookies) using What We Eat in America food categories. Child anthropometrics were measured by trained researchers. Multivariable linear regressions were used for adjusting for covariates (i.e., child sex, age, birth weight, breastfeeding duration, number of siblings, and maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, minority status, household income and food insecurity).

Results: Mothers self-identified as Asian (1%), Black (19.8%), Hispanic (12.5%), Multiracial (6.3%), and White (60.4%). In adjusted models, pressuring feeding style was associated with higher mean frequency of sweet beverages (β=0.309, p=0.013) and lower mean frequency of snack foods (β=-0.246, p=0.035) consumption. Restrictive feeding style was associated with lower mean energy (β=-0.272, p=0.023) and % energy from snack foods (β=-0.286, p=0.016). Mean sweet beverages frequency (β=0.391, p=0.002), energy (β=0.404, p=0.001), and % energy (β=0.442, p< 0.001) were associated with higher child WFLz in adjusted models. There were no significant associations between snack foods and WFLz.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that a pressuring feeding style is associated with higher sweet beverages consumption. Future research is needed to examine if pressuring feeding styles mediate the relationships between sweet beverages consumption and obesity risk.

Funding Sources: Children’s Mercy Research Institute