The role of family communication and parents' feeding practices in children's food preferences
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10131Dato
2015-02-07Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Sammendrag
This study used Family Communication Patterns Theory (FCPT) to explore how familydinner-related
communication takes place and how parents’ feeding practices may be associated
with children’s preferences for dinner meals. The sample consisted of 12 dyads with seven- and
eight-year-old Norwegian children and their parents. In-depth photo interviews were used for
collecting data. Interview transcripts and photographs were examined through content analysis.
Results indicated that most families were conversation oriented, and communication tended to
shift from consensual during weekdays to pluralistic at weekends. On weekdays, the dinner
menu was often a compromise between children’s preferences and parents’ intentions to
provide quick, healthy dinner options for the family. To a greater extent at weekends, children
were allowed to choose dinner alternatives for the entire family. Restriction of unhealthy dinner
alternatives was the practice most used to control children’s diets and, in fact, might explain
children’s high preferences for unhealthy dinner alternatives. Results underline the importance
of giving children control of what they eat and being responsive to children’s preferences while
guiding them towards healthy dinner alternatives rather than using force and restriction. From
a more theoretical perspective, this study explored how FCPT could be combined with theories
about parents feeding practices to understand meal preferences and choices among young
children and their families, and how time and situation (context) influence families’
communication patterns and feeding practices in their homes.
Beskrivelse
This is the accepted manuscript version. Published version at http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.02.002