Elsevier

Appetite

Volume 79, 1 August 2014, Pages 51-57
Appetite

Research report
Clarifying concepts of food parenting practices. A Delphi study with an application to snacking behavior

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.04.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • An extensive set of food parenting practices, and related concepts, was identified

  • Increased clarity about distinct food parenting practice concepts was realized

  • The process of consensus development in food parenting research is supported

Abstract

Inconsistencies in measurements of food parenting practices continue to exist. Fundamental to this problem is the lack of clarity about what is understood by different concepts of food parenting practices. The purpose of this study was to clarify food parenting practice concepts related to snacking. A three round Delphi study among an international group of experts (n = 63) was conducted. In the first round, an open-ended survey was used to collect food parenting practice descriptions and concept labels associated with those practices. In the second round, participants were asked to match up descriptions with the appropriate concept labels. The third and final round allowed participants to reconsider how descriptions and concept labels were matched, taking into account the opinions expressed in round two. Round one produced 408 descriptions of food parenting practices and 110 different concept names. Round two started with 116 descriptions of food parenting practices and 20 concept names. On 40 descriptions, consensus regarding the underlying concept name was reached in round two. Of the remaining 76 descriptions, consensus on 47 descriptions regarding the underlying concept name was reached in round three. The present study supports the essential process of consensus development with respect to food parenting practices concepts.

Introduction

Considerable attention has been paid to investigating parental influences on children's diets (Ventura & Birch, 2008), revealing that parents are pivotal in shaping children's dietary intake (Faith et al, 2004, Ventura, Birch, 2008). Parents create their children's physical and social environment, for example, by buying foods, by setting rules about foods, by encouraging or discouraging their children to eat certain kinds of foods, and by modeling the consumption of foods (Pinard et al., 2012). Many researchers have tried to capture these food parenting practices (FPPs) to study their impact on children's dietary intake, food preferences, eating styles, or anthropometric outcomes. The ultimate goal of such investigations is to inform interventions to promote healthy eating among children.

Many different instruments to assess FPPs have been used, among which the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ; Birch et al., 2001) is predominant (Corsini, Danthiir, Kettler, & Wilson, 2008). Other popular and validated instruments include the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ; Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007) and the Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire (PFSQ; Wardle, Sanderson, Guthrie, Rapoport, & Plomin, 2002). When comparing instruments to measure FPPs, several measurement inconsistencies can be noted. First, the names of FPP concepts differ between studies, while referring to the same concept (e.g. “food as a reward”; Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007 vs. “instrumental feeding”; Wardle et al., 2002). Second, the operationalization of similar concepts differs between studies, for example, pressure to eat has been operationalized as “if I did not guide or regulate my child's eating, she would eat much less than she should” (Birch et al., 2001), but also with the conceptually different item, “when he/she says he/she is finished eating, I try to get my child to eat one more (two more, etc.) bites of food” (Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007). Third, concepts differ in their level of specificity, both across and within studies. Restriction (e.g. Birch et al., 2001), for example, could be regarded as a concept at a general level while the concept of availability (e.g. Gattshall et al, 2008, Vereecken et al, 2010) may be regarded as one of the multiple ways to restrict a child's unhealthy food intake. Fourth, concepts are operationalized at different dimensions, in which some items reflect behaviors (e.g. “I intentionally keep some foods out of my child's reach”), while other items reflect beliefs (e.g. “I have to be sure that my child does not eat too many high-fat foods”) (Corsini et al., 2008). Aside from these inconsistencies, many instruments have concentrated on a limited number of FPPs, most of which are controlling practices (Clark, Goyder, Bissell, Blank, & Peters, 2007). However, a wide range of FPPs seem to exist and FPPs related to concepts such as modeling, educating, and involving are often disregarded (Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007). An instrument measuring all potentially important FPPs is lacking.

Fundamental to these issues is the lack of clarity about the full range of FPPs and about what is understood by different FPP concepts. Therefore, initiatives aiming at reaching consensus on FPP concepts are required to solve the inconsistencies in conceptualization and operationalization of concepts (Vaughn, Tabak, Bryant, & Ward, 2013).

This study addresses the conceptualization of FPPs by consulting experts in the field of parenting. The focus of this study is on snacking-related FPPs, as a high intake of energy-dense snacks increases the risk of weight gain and obesity among children (World Health Organization, 2003). Furthermore, snack-related parent–child interactions are likely to occur on a daily basis and to involve a wide range of parenting behaviors (Brown & Ogden, 2004).

Section snippets

Overview

A three round Delphi study was conducted using an international group of experts and a series of online surveys. The Delphi method is considered to be an appropriate method when aiming at reaching consensus and when experts are located distantly (Adler & Ziglio, 1996). In addition, this method usually starts from a blank slate, without directing or narrowing the focus of the experts to frequently utilized concepts and thereby creating a wider perspective compared with a review of instruments.

Response and participant characteristics

In total, 36 experts participated in the first round (response rate = 38%; Table 1). In the second round, 53 experts participated (response rate = 41%), including 26 experts from the first round. Of these 53 experts, 43 completed both questions on all descriptions, and 10 experts partly filled in the questionnaire (ranging from both questions on 12 descriptions to both questions on 83 descriptions). Two experts did not share information on their expertise. In the third round, 39 experts

Discussion

Fundamental to the inconsistencies in measurements of food parenting is the lack of clarity about the scope of FPPs and about what is understood by different FPP concepts. This study sought to clarify FPP concepts with an application to snacking behavior.

An extensive set of FPPs, and related concepts, has been identified, establishing a wide range of distinct FPPs. Experts agreed on the concepts for a considerable number of FPPs by using 18 different concept names. Several of the concepts

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    Acknowledgments: We are very grateful to the experts who participated in our study. Our appreciation is expressed to Ciska Hoving for reviewing the invitations and questionnaires for clarity. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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