Associations Between Maternal Feeding Style and Child Overweight

Abstract

Previous research has identified numerous risk factors that are associated with the development of childhood obesity. In recent years, the possible role of parenting has also been explored, with the assumption made that parental control in the context of feeding may exert an influence on child eating and child weight. The aim of the present study was to explore whether parent feeding styles were associated with young children’s body mass index (BMI) and specifically if the authoritative style was predictive of a lower weight status. For this, 80 mother-child dyads were visited when children were 3 and 4 years old. Maternal feeding style was reported by the mothers at the 3-year visit, and children’s anthropometric measurements were made at 3 and 4 years. Although not different across groups at 3 years, children whose mothers reported an authoritative feeding style had the lowest mean BMI percentile scores at ages 3 and 4 years. Although the subgroup of children of authoritarian mothers showed a significant increase in their BMI percentile scores from 3 to 4 years, the children of indulgent mothers had the highest BMI percentile scores at 4 years. The results of this study suggest that an indulgent maternal feeding style may be a risk factor for children’s unrestricted eating and becoming overweight.