Feeding Styles Adopted By Parents And Their Effect On Early Childhood Growth Outcomes

Abstract

Background: The feeding styles of parents are important in determining the dietary trend and growth outcomes of children when they are young. Differences in responsive, controlling and permissive feeding behaviors can have a huge impact on nutritional status and developmental patterns. Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate how parental feeding styles are associated with early childhood growth outcomes which included weight/age, height/age, and body mass index (BMI). Methodology: Two hundred and fifty parent-child pairs that had children between the ages of 2 to 5 years participated in a cross-sectional study. A validated questionnaire was used to get data on feeding styles, and anthropometric measurements were obtained according to the standard procedures. Correlation and regression models were used to analyze the association statistically. Findings: Responsive feeding was found to be correlated with normal growth indicators ( = 0.42, p < 0.01), with controlling feeding styles positively correlated with a higher BMI-for-age score ( = 0.35, p < 0.05). Undernutrition risk had a weak (albeit significant) correlation with permissive feeding (β = -0.28, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The approaches of feeding used by parents have a serious impact on the outcomes of early growth. The encouragement to use responsive feeding could also help with achieving optimal growth and mitigate malnutrition and obesity threats.