Variability in feeding practices by parent and eating occasion: A cluster analysis approach.

ABSTRACT: Recent research shows that parents of young children use both supportive and unsupportive food parenting practices daily, challenging assumptions that they rely on a single approach. The current study used cluster analysis to: 1) characterize approaches to feeding children that take into consideration a wide range of food parenting practices, and 2) explore patterns in how parents vary their approach across eating occasions. Parents (n = 252) reported food parenting practices used at each eating occasion (n = 6281 total) shared with their preschooler (aged 3-5 years) over multiple days (Mean: 9.23 days, SD: 9.23). Practices were categorized into four higher-order domains: structure, autonomy support, coercive control, and indulgent. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering identified clusters

SUBMITTER: Loth KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12755112 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature