Latent Profiles of Children’s Eating Behaviour: Identifying Avid Eaters

• In Event: Towards a Holistic Developmental Investigation of Children’s Eating Behaviors

Abstract

Previous research has evidenced that from infancy onward genetic influence on weight is partly mediated by appetite avidity, expressed as food approach (FA) behaviors. Children who are more food responsive eat more frequently throughout the day than children who are less responsive to food cues, increasing susceptibility to future obesity. However, there has been little exploration of whether there is a distinct eating behavior profile reflecting high food FA/appetite avidity in children. Lacking an operative diagnosis of eating behavior profiles has also hindered investigating the degree to which other behavior traits (such as child temperament) or external influences (such as experiences of food insecurity, or parental feeding practices) vary by profile. Differences in temperament may explain why some children have a greater susceptibility to eating issues but also differing parental feeding practices.
This study primarily aimed to identify a distinct eating behavior profile reflecting high food FA/appetite avidity in preschool children. Following the identification of the latent eating profiles, the research then addressed potential predictive factors of children’s eating behavior.
An online survey was conducted with 995 parents/caregivers (80.2% female) of children aged 3-6 years old (36-72 months, Mage ± SD = 48.8 ± 8.17 months, 52% female) living in England and Wales. Participants reported on their child’s eating behavior using the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ), as well as completing measures of the child’s temperament (VSF-CBQ), household food security (HFSS), socioeconomic status, and parental feeding practices (CFPQ). 82% of participants described themselves as white British and 89% of respondents were born in the UK. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was carried out to identify distinct eating profiles within children (see figure 1).
Three profiles emerged: (a) avid eaters (32.6% of children), (b) typical eaters (48.3% of children), and (c) fussy eaters (19.1% of children). Avid eaters were characterized by higher levels of food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, and emotional over-eating in combination with lower levels of satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating, emotional under-eating, and food fussiness. These distinct eating behavior profiles also differed in child temperament and parental feeding practices. Avid eaters were reported to be more surgent, with less display of negative emotion. Regardless of child temperament, children belonging to the avid eating profile were recipients of more controlling feeding practices, such as control for health, control for weight, monitoring, and child control. A significant interaction effect was found for eating profiles and levels of surgency on parental use of food reward. Children belonging to the avid eating profile with high levels of surgency were recipients of significantly more food reward feeding practices. Parents of children classified as avid eaters reported struggling more with their present income compared to parents of fussy eaters but there was no significant difference in food insecurity between the three eating profiles. This paper discusses the distinct eating behavior profiles observed in early childhood and outlines how child temperament, parental feeding practices, and socio-demographic variables increase susceptibility to specific eating behaviors.

Authors

• Abigail Pickard, Aston University
  Presenting Author

• Helen Croker, World Cancer Research Fund

• Claire Farrow, Aston University

• Emma Haycraft, Loughborough University

• Moritz Herle, King's College London

• Alice Kininmonth, University College London

• Clare Llewellyn, University College London

• Jacqueline Blissett, Aston University