Research Department of Behavioural Science and Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, University College London, London, UK.
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2023 Apr 4;20(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12966-023-01440-2.
Parental feeding practices (PFPs) have been implicated in the development of children's eating behaviours. However, evidence suggests that feeding practices may also develop in response to their child's weight or emerging appetitive traits. We used the twin design to test the hypothesis that parents develop their feeding practices partly in response to their child's appetite.
Data were from Gemini, a population-based cohort of 2402 British families with twins born in 2007. Psychometric measures of PFPs and appetite were completed by parents when their twins were 16-months and 5-years. Within-family analyses including all twins with available data in the sample (n = 1010-1858 pairs), examined if within-pair differences in PFPs were associated with differences in appetitive traits, controlling for differences in birth weight-SDS, early feeding method and child sex. In a subsample of twin pairs who were considerably discordant for appetitive traits by ≥ 1SD (n = 122-544 pairs), the direction and magnitude of within-pair differences in feeding practices was explored.
Within-family variation in parental feeding practices in toddlerhood and early childhood was low (discordance ranged from 0.1 to 6% of the sample), except for pressure to eat (toddlerhood: 19%; early childhood: 32%). Within-pair differences in all appetitive traits were associated with differential use of 'pressure to eat' at both 16-months and 5-years. In the subsample of twins most discordant for appetitive traits, parents used more pressure with the twin expressing lower food responsiveness, lower emotional overeating, lower food enjoyment, higher satiety responsiveness, slower speed of eating, higher emotional undereating and greater fussiness in toddlerhood and early childhood (p-values < 0.001). Effect sizes were small to large at 16-months (η=0.02-0.09) and 5-years (η=0.05-0.21).
Parents rarely varied their feeding practices between twins in toddlerhood and early childhood, except for pressure. Parents exerted greater pressure on their twin who expressed a poorer appetite compared to their co-twin, suggesting that parents develop a pressuring feeding style when their child expresses a poorer appetite or lower interest in, and enthusiasm for, eating. These findings could be used to guide interventions seeking to support parents in feeding their children in a way that nurtures the development of healthy eating behaviours.
父母的喂养行为（PFPs）与儿童的饮食行为发展有关。然而，有证据表明，喂养行为也可能是对孩子的体重或正在出现的食欲特征做出反应而发展的。我们使用双胞胎设计来检验这样一个假设，即父母的喂养行为部分是对孩子的食欲做出反应而发展的。
数据来自 Gemini，这是一个基于人群的 2007 年出生的 2402 对英国家庭双胞胎队列。当双胞胎 16 个月和 5 岁时，父母完成了对 PFPs 和食欲的心理测量评估。在包括样本中所有有可用数据的双胞胎在内的家庭内分析（n=1010-1858 对）中，检验了双胞胎内 PFPs 的差异是否与食欲特征的差异有关，同时控制了出生体重-SDS、早期喂养方法和儿童性别。在双胞胎对中，有相当大一部分在食欲特征上的差异≥1SD（n=122-544 对），在这个亚样本中，探索了喂养行为的双胞胎内差异的方向和幅度。
幼儿期和儿童早期父母喂养行为的家庭内变异很小（差异范围为样本的 0.1%至 6%，除了进食压力外）。所有食欲特征的双胞胎内差异均与 16 个月和 5 岁时使用“进食压力”的差异有关。在双胞胎中，食欲特征差异最大的亚样本中，父母在幼儿期和儿童早期对表达较低食物反应性、较低情绪性暴食、较低食物享受、较高饱腹感反应性、较慢进食速度、较低情绪性少吃和更多挑剔的双胞胎使用了更多的压力（p 值均<0.001）。16 个月时的效应大小为小到中（η=0.02-0.09），5 岁时为小到大（η=0.05-0.21）。
除了进食压力之外，父母在幼儿期和儿童早期很少在双胞胎之间改变他们的喂养行为。父母对表现出较差食欲的双胞胎施加了更大的压力，与他们的同卵双胞胎相比，这表明当孩子表现出较差的食欲或对进食的兴趣、热情较低时，父母会发展出一种施压的喂养方式。这些发现可以用来指导干预措施，旨在帮助父母以促进健康饮食行为发展的方式喂养孩子。
