Harris Holly A, Fildes Alison, Mallan Kimberley M, Llewellyn Clare H
Centre for Children's Health Research, Queensland University of Technology, South Brisbane, 4101, Australia.
School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, 4059, Australia.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2016 Jul 13;13:81. doi: 10.1186/s12966-016-0408-4.
Parental feeding practices are thought to play a causal role in shaping a child's fussiness; however, a child-responsive model suggests that feeding practices may develop in response to a child's emerging appetitive characteristics. We used a novel twin study design to test the hypothesis that mothers vary their feeding practices for twin children who differ in their 'food fussiness', in support of a child-responsive model.
Participants were mothers and their 16 month old twin children (n = 2026) from Gemini, a British twin birth cohort of children born in 2007. Standardized psychometric measures of maternal 'pressure to eat', 'restriction' and 'instrumental feeding', as well as child 'food fussiness', were completed by mothers. Within-family analyses examined if twin-pair differences in 'food fussiness' were associated with differences in feeding practices using linear regression models. In a subset of twins (n = 247 pairs) who were the most discordant (highest quartile) on 'food fussiness' (difference score ≥ .50), Paired Samples T-test were used to explore the magnitude of differences in feeding practices between twins. Between-family analyses used Complex Samples General Linear Models to examine associations between feeding practices and 'food fussiness'.
Within-pair differences in 'food fussiness' were associated with differential 'pressure to eat' and 'instrumental feeding' (ps < .001), but not with 'restriction'. In the subset of twins most discordant on 'food fussiness', mothers used more pressure (p < .001) and food rewards (p < .05) with the fussier twin. Between-family analyses indicated that 'pressure to eat' and 'instrumental feeding' were positively associated with 'food fussiness', while 'restriction' was negatively associated with 'food fussiness' (ps < .001).
Mothers appear to subtly adjust their feeding practices according to their perceptions of their toddler's emerging fussy eating behavior. Specifically, the fussier toddler is pressured more than their less fussy co-twin, and is more likely to be offered food rewards. Guiding parents on how to respond to fussy eating may be an important aspect of promoting feeding practices that encourage food acceptance.
父母的喂养方式被认为在塑造孩子的挑剔饮食习惯方面起着因果作用；然而，一种以孩子为导向的模型表明，喂养方式可能是为了应对孩子逐渐显现的食欲特征而形成的。我们采用了一种新颖的双胞胎研究设计，以检验母亲会针对“食物挑剔程度”不同的双胞胎孩子调整其喂养方式这一假设，以支持以孩子为导向的模型。
参与者是来自双子座（Gemini）的母亲及其16个月大的双胞胎孩子（n = 2026），双子座是一个英国双胞胎出生队列，研究对象为2007年出生的孩子。母亲们完成了关于母亲“进食压力”“限制”和“工具性喂养”以及孩子“食物挑剔程度”的标准化心理测量。家庭内部分析使用线性回归模型，检验“食物挑剔程度”的双胞胎对差异是否与喂养方式的差异相关。在“食物挑剔程度”差异最大（最高四分位数，差异分数≥0.50）的一部分双胞胎（n = 247对）中，使用配对样本t检验来探究双胞胎之间喂养方式差异的程度。家庭间分析使用复杂样本一般线性模型来检验喂养方式与“食物挑剔程度”之间的关联。
“食物挑剔程度”的双胞胎对差异与不同的“进食压力”和“工具性喂养”相关（p值均<0.001），但与“限制”无关。在“食物挑剔程度”差异最大的双胞胎子集中，母亲对更挑剔的双胞胎使用了更多压力（p < 0.001）和食物奖励（p < 0.05）。家庭间分析表明，“进食压力”和“工具性喂养”与“食物挑剔程度”呈正相关，而“限制”与“食物挑剔程度”呈负相关（p值均<0.001）。
母亲似乎会根据她们对幼儿逐渐出现的挑食行为的认知，微妙地调整她们的喂养方式。具体而言，更挑剔的幼儿比不那么挑剔的双胞胎受到的压力更大，并且更有可能得到食物奖励。指导父母如何应对挑食行为可能是促进鼓励食物接受的喂养方式的一个重要方面。
