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Parental feeding practices are a key modifiable component of children's food environments. Evidence suggests that certain feeding practices may differentially influence children's eating behaviour or weight, depending on the child's temperament (e.g. emotionality). Building on this work, we tested the hypothesis that feeding practices during toddlerhood influence children's developing eating behaviours differently, depending on their appetite avidity (which is characterised by a larger appetite and greater interest in food). Data were from Gemini, a population-based cohort of British twin children born in 2007. Parental feeding practices were assessed at 15/16-months, and child appetite at 15/16-months and 5-years, using validated psychometric measures (n = 1858 children). Complex samples general linear models examined prospective associations between PFPs at 15/16-months and child appetitive traits at 5-years, adjusting for clustering of twins within families and for the corresponding child appetitive trait at 15/16-months, difference in age between timepoints, child sex, gestational age, and socioeconomic status. Moderation analyses revealed that pressuring a child to eat led to greater increases in emotional overeating from 15/16-months to 5-years, only for children with high (1 SD above the mean: B = 0.13; SE± = 0.03,p < 0.001) or moderate emotional overeating (mean: B = 0.07 ± 0.03,p < 0.001) in toddlerhood. Greater covert restriction predicted greater reductions in emotional overeating and food responsiveness from 15/16-months to 5-years, only for children with high emotional overeating (1 SD above the mean: B = −0.06 ± 0.03,p = 0.03) and low food responsiveness (1 SD below the mean: B = −0.06 ± 0.03,p = 0.04) in toddlerhood. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that children with a more avid appetite in toddlerhood are differentially affected by parental feeding practices; caregivers of toddlers may therefore benefit from feeding advice that is tailored to their child's unique appetite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the mechanisms through which deprivation predisposes a child to increased obesity risk is key to tackling health inequality. Appetite avidity is a key driver of variation in early weight gain. Low socioeconomic status (SES) can be a marker of a more 'obesogenic' food environment which may encourage the behavioural expression of appetite avidity. The objective was to test the hypothesis that children of lower SES demonstrate increases in appetite avidity from toddlerhood to five years. Data were from the Gemini twin birth cohort, with one twin per family selected at random. Parents completed the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) to assess appetitive traits at 16 months and five years. SES was defined using a weighted composite measure comprising seven key correlates. Linear regression models examined the cross-sectional and prospective associations between SES and appetite from 16 months to 5 years, controlling for appetite at 16 months, sex, birth weight and parental BMI. Cross-sectionally, lower SES was significantly associated with higher food responsiveness (β = -0.09 ± 0.024), higher enjoyment of food (β = -0.13 ± 0.024), lower satiety responsiveness (β = 0.09 ± 0.024), and lower food fussiness (β = 0.09, ±0.024) at 16 months. At age 5, lower SES was significantly associated with higher food responsiveness (β = -0.10 ± 0.032), higher desire to drink (β = -0.22 ± 0.031) and higher emotional overeating (β = -0.10 ± 0.032). Prospectively, lower SES predicted greater increases in two key weight-related appetitive traits, from 16 months to 5 years: emotional overeating (β = -0.10 ± 0.032; p < 0.01) and food responsiveness (β = -0.09, ±0.030; p < 0.01). The results indicate that appetite may be a behavioural mediator of the well-established link between childhood deprivation and obesity risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify distinct eating behaviour profiles in young children and examine how other key predictors of children's eating behaviour, including child temperament, the experience of food insecurity, or parental feeding practices, may vary by identified profiles. An online survey was conducted with 995 parents/carers living in England and Wales (N = 995, M age = 35.4 years, 80% female, 88% White). Participants reported on their child's eating behaviour using the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and completed measures of child temperament, household food security and parental feeding practices. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was carried out to identify distinct eating profiles amongst the children (36–72 months, M age = 48.8 months, 52% female). Four eating profiles emerged from the sample of children: (a) avid eating , (b) avoidant eating , (c) happy eating , and (d) typical eating. Avid eating (21.9% of children) was characterised by higher levels of food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, and emotional over-eating in combination with lower satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating and food fussiness. Children with an avid eating profile were reported to be more surgent and experienced greater food insecurity than all other eating profiles. Parents of children belonging to the avid eating profile showed significantly greater use of food for emotional regulation, varied and balanced food provision, restriction of food for health, and restriction of food for weight feeding practices than the three other eating profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]