food refusal/ pressure to eat

Question 1

food refusal

Answer 1

Characterised by
1. Refusing new or previously liked foods
2. Rejection of bitter tastes – especially vegetables
3. Can generalise to same texture, colours, etc.
Why?
* Neophobia / Developing cognition / Developmentally
predictable(expect a lot of kids to show this)
Common caregiver responses
* Pressure to eat
* Food as a rewar

Question 2

pressure to eat

Answer 2

Predicts ‘picky’ eating in adults (Batsell et al.,
2002)
*
“Bad memories of school dinners still affect the eating
habits of many adults, a survey suggests” (BBC poll of
2,000 Good Food Magazine readers)

• Coercion and bribing- vicious cycle- if child is overweight, but parent is encouraging or forcing to eat food, creates meal times hard for child, so subsequently they eat less
  *Often out of concern
• Linked to lower child weight (Ruzicka et al., 2021)
• Unrealistic portion sizes?

Ruzicka study-Restriction was significantly associated with higher child weight status. This association was significantly moderated by child age and household income. There was also a significant association between pressure-to-eat child feeding practices and child weight (d = −.30, 95% CI, −.38 to −.22). No significant moderators were identified. Pressure-to-eat was significantly associated with lower child weight status.

Question 3

pressure to eat- reducing intake

Answer 3

Galloway et al. (2006)
* N = 27 preschoolers (3-5 yrs)
* 2 conditions
* Pressured to eat soup (“finish your soup please”)
* Control
* Parental questionnaire about pressure to eat
*Pressure condition- Did not eat more soup- More negative comments about soup

Children consumed significantly more food when they were not pressured to eat and they made overwhelmingly fewer negative comments. Children who were pressured to eat at home had lower body mass index percentile scores and were less affected by the pressure in the lab setting than children who were not pressured at home.

Question 4

pressure to eat- increased intake

Answer 4

Orrell-Valente et al. (2007)
* 142 families of kindergarteners (52% females)
* Observed at dinnertime using a focused-narrative
observational system
Found
* 85% parents tried to get children to eat more
* 83% of children ate more than they might
otherwise
* 38% ate moderately to substantially more

pressure to eat may lead to increased intake because- over rides internal fullness cues- startt responding to external cues

Question 5

studies on pressure to eat-

Answer 5

Clark et al., 2007- Parents report using a wide range of child-feeding behaviours, including monitoring, pressure to eat and restriction. Restriction of children’s eating has most frequently and consistently been associated with child weight gain. Furthermore, there is substantial evidence for a causal relationship between parental restriction and childhood overweigh

Ellis et al., 2016- Pressure to eat, a parental controlling feeding practice aimed at encouraging a child to eat more, is associated with picky eating and a number of other childhood eating concerns. found parental pressure to eat in childhood predicted lower levels of intuitive eating and higher levels of disordered eating behaviors associated with bulimia