Influence of Child Care Providers on Children’s Eating

Eating behaviors of young children are influenced by their eating environment. Today many young children spend considerable time in child care settings. A major responsibility for feeding, (which is part of the eating environment) has shifted from family members to child care providers.

Most research on the impact of feeding practices of young children has focused on parents in controlled laboratory settings. Drs. Sheryl Hughes and Theresa Nicklas and others at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston are investigating the impact of the feeding styles of caregivers and young children’s eating patterns in Head Start centers.Child care providers, much like parents, influence what and how much children eat by:

• serving as an example (modeling),
• providing instruction through directives, and/or
• providing little or no instruction, leaving children to their own devices.

In their research, published in the April 2007 Journal of Development and Behavioral Pediatrics, child care providers were observed at three mealtime occasions. Self-reported feeding styles were assessed using the Caregivers Feeding Styles Questionnaire (CFSQ), available on the CNRC website at www.kidsnutrition. org/faculty/hughes.htm. The researchers examined the association between observed feeding styles of child care providers and what and how much children ate. An observational checklist was used to associate observed behaviors with child intake.

The caregiver’s feeding style was categorized as authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent or uninvolved. Overall, indulgent feeding styles led to young children eating more food. Examples of indulgent feeding behaviors include:

• Gives seconds,
• Offers seconds verbally, and
• Gives multiple servings.

Although characteristics of indulgent feeding behaviors might be encouraged when the food being served is nutritious and healthful, efforts should be made to minimize indulgent feeding behaviors of caregivers when the food is less healthful.