For those who are interested in some of the evidence supporting a DOR approach to feeding children we’ve summarized a few studies below.
The benefits of an authoritative feeding style: Authoritative vs authoriatarian feeding styles
You may be familiar with the four parenting styles and the associated pros/cons of each: Authoritative – Set limits and demands or expectations, but are responsive and warm. Authoritarian – Set limits and demands or expectations, but are not responsive or warm Permissive – Few limits or demands, but are responsive and warm Neglectful – Few limits and are not responsive or warm. In general research finds that an authoritative parenting style tends to be associated with better outcomes for children. This article provides a nice summary: http://www.parentingscience.com/parenting-styles.html What we want to draw your attention to is research that shows a connection between parental feeding style and better eating among kids. The authoritarian (high demand/low responsiveness) feeding style included behaviors such as restricting the child from eating certain foods and forcing the child to eat other foods. Thus, authoritarian feeding was characterized by attempts to control the child’s eating (high demand) with little regard for the child’s choices and preferences (low responsiveness). Some examples included: ‘Physically struggle with the child to get him/her to eat’ or ‘Show disapproval of the child for not eating’ Overall children ate best when they were fed in a more responsive, authoritative feeding style. Although DOR was not mentioned, it fits an authoritative feeding style because it is structured and responsive and allows children a measure of autonomy.
Associations of parenting styles, parental feeding practices and child characteristics…
Children centered feeding vs parent centered feeding Associations of parenting styles, parental feeding practices and child
From the abstract: — The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of parent and child characteristics in explaining children’s fruit and vegetable intakes. — Child-centered feeding practices were positively related to children’s fruit and vegetable intakes, while parent-centered feeding practices were negatively related to children’s vegetable intakes. In order to try to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption, parents should be guided to improve their own diet and to use child-centered parenting practices and strategies known to decrease negative reactions to food.
The variability of young children’s energy intake
The Variability of Young Children’s Energy Intake
Although kids vary in the calories they may eat meal to meal, the day to day variability is much lower and tends to be consistent because kids adjust their calorie intake from meal to meal to get what they need over the course of a day.
Reluctant trying of an unfamiliar food induces negative affection for the food
Reluctant trying of an unfamiliar food induces negative affection for the food
When kids are made to eat something they are reluctant to eat, it can negatively influence their enjoyment of that food in the future.
Relationship between portion size and energy intake among infants and toddlers… Relationship between Portion Size and Energy Intake among Infants and Toddles Evidence of Self-Regulation
Conclusions of this study confirm that infants and young toddlers have the innate ability to self-regulate their calorie intake. However, environmental cues can diminish this self-regulation even in toddlers. This includes coercive feeding practices to “clean your plate” and being overly restrictive when motivated by concerns a child may be overeating.
The feeding relationship
The feeding relationship = complex interactions between parent and child as they engage in food selection, ingestion, and regulation behaviors. This feeding relationship can influence a child’s eating and nutritional status.
Just Three More Bites
Just three more bites_An observational analysis
Out of 142 families observed, eighty-five percent of parents tried to get children to eat more, 83% of children ate more than they might otherwise have, with 38% eating moderately to substantially more. Boys were prompted to eat as often as girls and children were prompted to eat as many times in single- as in two-parent households. Children were very rarely restricted in their mealtime intake. High-SES parents used reasoning, praise, and food rewards significantly more often than low-SES families. Mothers used different strategies than fathers: fathers used pressure tactics with boys and mothers praised girls for eating. These data reinforce current recommendations that parents should provide nutritious foods and children, not parents, should decide what and how much of these foods they eat.
Parental influence on eating behavior
Development of eating behaviors among children and adolescents
From the abstract: An enormous amount of learning about food and eating occurs during the transition from the exclusive milk diet of infancy to the omnivore’s diet consumed by early childhood. This early learning is constrained by children’s genetic predispositions, which include the unlearned preference for sweet tastes, salty tastes, and the rejection of sour and bitter tastes. Children also are pre- disposed to reject new foods and to learn associations between foods’ flavors and the postingestive consequences of eating. Evidence suggests that children can respond to the energy density of the diet and that although intake at individual meals is erratic, 24-hour energy intake is relatively well regulated. There are individual differences in the regulation of energy intake as early as the preschool period. These individual differences in self-regulation are associated with differences in child-feeding practices and with children’s adiposity. This suggests that child-feeding practices have the potential to affect children’s energy balance via altering patterns of intake. Initial evidence indicates that imposition of stringent parental controls can potentiate preferences for high-fat, energy-dense foods, limit children’s acceptance of a variety of foods, and disrupt children’s regulation of energy intake by altering children’s responsiveness to internal cues of hunger and satiety. This can occur when well-intended but concerned parents assume that children need help in determining what, when, and how much to eat and when parents impose child-feeding practices that provide children with few opportunities for self-control. Implications of these findings for preventive interventions are discussed.
Parental influence on eating behavior
Parental influence on eating behavior2
Position of the American Dietetic Association: Nutrition Guidance for Healthy Children Ages 2 to 11: Position of the American Dietetic Association
The benefits of family meals: Family-Mealtimes