Associations between parental feeding practices and BMI in middle childhood: the role of children's inhibitory control (379.5)

Parent feeding practices are key to development of dietary habits and childhood obesity, but the role of child characteristics in this association is less clear. Recently, children’s inhibitory control (IC) has been related to eating habits and weight. The objective of the current study was to examine associations between parent feeding practices, IC, and BMI percentile with 267 fourth grade students and their parents. It was hypothesized that IC would moderate associations between parent feeding practices and BMI. Parent feeding practices were collected with the Child Feeding Questionnaire (Birch et al., 2001) (Restriction, Pressure to Eat, and Monitoring). IC was collected with the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (Rothbart et al., 2001). BMI percentile was calculated from height and weight, adjusted for age and gender. OLS multiple regression results suggest a significant interaction between Pressure to Eat and IC as predictors of BMI percentile (β=3.23, p<.05). Simple slopes analyses indicate Pressure to Eat is related to lower BMI percentile only for children low in IC. Findings suggest that using pressure to influence a child’s eating habits may be beneficial if the child’s low IC interferes with their own ability to regulate their diet. Grant Funding Source : Supported by UCANR and USDA 2011‐38420‐20082