Parental food communication and child eating behaviours: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Aim: To review current evidence for parental food communication practices and their association with child eating behaviours. Methods: The PRISMA framework guided the reporting of the review; registered with Prospero in July 2020. Eligible studies were critically appraised using the Joanna Briggs Institute tools. Only quantitative studies that included a parental measure of food communication and a child measure of eating behaviour were included. Results: From 11 063 articles 23 were eligible for synthesis. The vast majority (82%) of studies used observational cross-sectional designs. Three involved observing parent–child dyads, with the remainder using questionnaires. Two quasi-experimental designs tested interventions and two randomised control trial were reported. The majority of measures assessing parental food communication were subscales of larger questionnaires. The Caregiver's Feeding Style Questionnaire (CFSQ) was the most direct and relevant measure of parental food communication. Findings of reviewed studies highlighted that “how” parents communicate about food appears to impact child eating behaviours. Using child-centred communication provided promising outcomes for positive child eating behaviours, while parental “diet” communication was found to be associated with poorer dietary outcomes in children. Conclusions: Food communication research is in its infancy. However, evidence for the importance of parents' child-focused food communication is emerging, providing a focus for future research and interventions. So What?: Given the gaps in our understanding about prevention of disordered eating, there is a significant opportunity to explore what food communication strategies may assist parents to communicate about food in a positive way.