Effect of maternal eating behaviors and attitudes towards the feeding process on feeding problems of pre-school age children

Background & aims: Feeding problems in pre-school children are common and negative maternal feeding practices may even worsen the child's problematic eating behavior. Therefore, investigating the effects of maternal eating behaviors and attitudes towards the feeding process on pre-school children's feeding problems may be helpful for preventing feeding problems. This study sought to investigate the effects of maternal eating behaviors and attitudes towards the feeding process on feeding problems of pre-school children. Methods: Mothers of 373 children aged 3–6 were included in this cross-sectional study and data was collected by an online questionnaire including the scales of three-factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ), mother's attitudes towards the feeding process (MATFPS) and behavioral pediatric feeding assessment (BPFAS), as well as demographics and anthropometric measures (height and weight). Spearman's rho test was used to calculate correlation coefficients between the TFEQ, MATFP and BPFA scales. In order to identify independent predictors of child feeding behaviors, a multiple linear regression model was used. Results: Results showed that uncontrolled eating subscale was positively (r = 0.160, p < 0.001) and cognitive restriction subscale negatively (r = −0.126, p < 0.05) correlated with MATFP. MATFP was also positively correlated with BPFA (r = 0.368, p < 0.001). Regression analysis indicated that BPFA was significantly predicted by MATFP which was the most important contributor of child feeding problems (β = 0.24, t = 4.88, p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study indicated that maternal eating behaviors were related to maternal attitudes towards the feeding process and, mothers’ attitudes were associated with feeding problems of their pre-school children.