Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood?
Impact of parental feeding practices on children’s eating behaviors is well-documented in the literature. Nevertheless, little is known about how many of these behaviors might persist into adulthood. There is a lack of a tool measuring childhood feeding experiences recollected by adults, while the C...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/983 |
| _version_ | 1797540941115949056 |
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| author | Aleksandra Małachowska Marzena Jeżewska-Zychowicz |
| author_facet | Aleksandra Małachowska Marzena Jeżewska-Zychowicz |
| author_sort | Aleksandra Małachowska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Impact of parental feeding practices on children’s eating behaviors is well-documented in the literature. Nevertheless, little is known about how many of these behaviors might persist into adulthood. There is a lack of a tool measuring childhood feeding experiences recollected by adults, while the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ) is used to measure parental feeding practices applied towards children. The aim of the study was to adapt the CFPQ to measure adults’ recollections of their childhood (5–10 years old) feeding experiences, to examine its discriminant validity and then to assess if these practices are related to adults’ food choices. In 2020, the modified version of CFPQ (mCFPQ) and questions on current food consumption were administered in a group of 500 adults twice over a two-week interval. The analysis included 443 participants whose questionnaires were correctly completed in both stages of the study. The Q-sorting procedure was used to test for discriminant validity of the questionnaire, i.e., confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Cronbach’s alpha, correlations coefficients, and the analysis of the differences between groups according to the intake of certain food products. Test–retest reliability was examined by calculating interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for each obtained factor. As a result of EFA, five subscales were identified: “Restrictions”, “Healthy Eating Guidance”, “Pressure and Food Reward”, “Monitoring”, and “Child Control”. Items from these subscales created a new tool—Adults’ Memories of Feeding in Childhood (AMoFiC). Test for internal consistency, factor correlations, and discriminant validity proved satisfactory psychometric parameters of AMoFiC. “Pressure and Food Reward” and “Child Control” were associated with higher intake of sweets and salty snacks, whereas “Healthy Eating Guidance”, “Monitoring”, and “Restrictions” were associated with higher consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Despite the fact that the AMoFiC questionnaire requires further research, the findings of the study might be of practical use in counseling addressed to the parents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:08:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ee91ad2d38f84c36b9159b3033052ca0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:08:14Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-ee91ad2d38f84c36b9159b3033052ca02023-11-21T11:00:15ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432021-03-0113398310.3390/nu13030983Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood?Aleksandra Małachowska0Marzena Jeżewska-Zychowicz1Department of Food Market and Consumer Research, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW-WULS), Nowoursynowska 159C, 02-776 Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Food Market and Consumer Research, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW-WULS), Nowoursynowska 159C, 02-776 Warsaw, PolandImpact of parental feeding practices on children’s eating behaviors is well-documented in the literature. Nevertheless, little is known about how many of these behaviors might persist into adulthood. There is a lack of a tool measuring childhood feeding experiences recollected by adults, while the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ) is used to measure parental feeding practices applied towards children. The aim of the study was to adapt the CFPQ to measure adults’ recollections of their childhood (5–10 years old) feeding experiences, to examine its discriminant validity and then to assess if these practices are related to adults’ food choices. In 2020, the modified version of CFPQ (mCFPQ) and questions on current food consumption were administered in a group of 500 adults twice over a two-week interval. The analysis included 443 participants whose questionnaires were correctly completed in both stages of the study. The Q-sorting procedure was used to test for discriminant validity of the questionnaire, i.e., confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Cronbach’s alpha, correlations coefficients, and the analysis of the differences between groups according to the intake of certain food products. Test–retest reliability was examined by calculating interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for each obtained factor. As a result of EFA, five subscales were identified: “Restrictions”, “Healthy Eating Guidance”, “Pressure and Food Reward”, “Monitoring”, and “Child Control”. Items from these subscales created a new tool—Adults’ Memories of Feeding in Childhood (AMoFiC). Test for internal consistency, factor correlations, and discriminant validity proved satisfactory psychometric parameters of AMoFiC. “Pressure and Food Reward” and “Child Control” were associated with higher intake of sweets and salty snacks, whereas “Healthy Eating Guidance”, “Monitoring”, and “Restrictions” were associated with higher consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Despite the fact that the AMoFiC questionnaire requires further research, the findings of the study might be of practical use in counseling addressed to the parents.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/983parental feeding practiceschildhood recollectionseating behaviorvalidation study |
| spellingShingle | Aleksandra Małachowska Marzena Jeżewska-Zychowicz Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood? Nutrients parental feeding practices childhood recollections eating behavior validation study |
| title | Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood? |
| title_full | Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood? |
| title_fullStr | Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood? |
| title_short | Does Examining the Childhood Food Experiences Help to Better Understand Food Choices in Adulthood? |
| title_sort | does examining the childhood food experiences help to better understand food choices in adulthood |
| topic | parental feeding practices childhood recollections eating behavior validation study |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/3/983 |
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