Toddler dietary patterns from the INSIGHT randomized clinical trial comparing responsive parenting versus control: A latent class analysis

Towards developing a "baby translator" - An exploration of how infant appetite cues are understood

Caregivers' feeding practices shape their child's eating patterns and subsequent health. Research shows that sensitive feeding is linked to healthy development and self-regulation but depends on caregiver responsiveness to infant needs and appetite cues. Responsive feeding (RF) is influenced both by characteristics of the caregiver and expressiveness of the infant. To investigate how infant communication is understood and whether recognition of appetite cues is associated with the viewer's eating traits, mental health and wellbeing, an online study was conducted. Participants (N = 200) aged 18-55 years were recruited in June 2022 via Prolific. Recognition of infant appetite cues was measured by participant responses to video clips of infants (N = 10) being fed during mealtimes (sampled at the start and end of a meal). Caregiver satiety responsiveness, intuitive eating, alexithymia, autism spectrum disorder, and mental health were assessed by validated questionnaires. Results showed a high consensus in identifying infant appetite cues, with no significant correlations with parenting status, eating traits or mental health, except for one subscale of alexithymia - Difficulty Describing Feelings (r = -.15, p = .03). Open-ended descriptions of mealtime cues showed that positive affect was observed early in the meal and more negative affect at the end of the meal. Infant cues signalling interest in eating were generally well recognised and were not significantly correlated with individual differences of the viewer except alexithymia. Further research to assess the association between alexithymia, responsiveness to infant communication cues and RF practices is warranted.

The feeding siblings questionnaire (FSQ): Development of a self-report tool for parents with children aged 2-5 years

Over the last decade, there have been repeated calls to expand the operationalisation of food parenting practices. The conceptualisation and measurement of these practices has been based primarily on research with parent-child dyads. One unexplored dimension of food parenting pertains to the evaluation of practices specific to feeding siblings. This study describes the development and validation of the Feeding Siblings Questionnaire (FSQ) - a tool designed to measure practices in which siblings are positioned as mediators in parents' attempts to prompt or persuade a child to eat. Item development was guided by a conceptual model derived from mixed-methods research and refined through expert reviews and cognitive interviews. These interviews were conducted in two phases, where parents responded to the questionnaire primarily to test i) the readability and relevance of each item, and ii) its overall feasibility. The instrument was completed by 330 parents (96.1% mothers) in Australia with two children aged 2-5 years, and repeated by 133 parents (40.3%) two weeks later. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on baseline data. Internal consistency and test re-test reliability of the subsequent subscales were examined. Construct validity was assessed through comparisons with existing measures of food parenting practices and child eating behaviours. The final FSQ scale included 22 items, reflecting five food parenting practices: sibling competitiveness, active sibling influence, threatening unequal division of food, sibling role modelling, and vicarious operant conditioning. Internal consistency and test re-test reliability estimates were high, and there was some evidence of convergent construct validity. While its factor structure should be confirmed in a different sample, the FSQ offers a novel tool for assessing, monitoring, and evaluating feeding interactions beyond those confined to the parent-child dyad.