What factors predict the use of coercive food parenting practices among mothers of young children? An examination of food literacy, disordered eating and parent demographics

Parents have the most significant influence on the development of young children’s eating patterns. Understanding what parental factors best predict specific negative feeding practices is important for designing preventive interventions. We examined the relationship between parents’ use of coercive food parenting practices (pressure to eat and restriction) and parents’ disordered eating, food literacy, Body Mass Index (BMI) and socio-economic status (SES). Adult mothers, with a mean age of 33 years, at least one child aged between 6 months and 5 years and living in Australia (n = 819) completed an online questionnaire. Regression models were used to examine predictors of pressure to eat and restriction, respectively. Although the amount of variance accounted for by the models was small, maternal eating disorder symptoms were found to be the most important predictor of coercive food parenting practices. This finding has implications for early nutrition education, which has traditionally focused heavily on nutrition literacy. Parental disordered eating may be a more important preventive target and thus including behavioral strategies for positive feeding practices may better assist mothers in promoting positive eating habits with their children, rather than traditional approaches that aim to increase nutrition literacy.