Selective eating behaviors in children An observational validation of parental report measures_2018.pdf

A B S T R A C TSelective eating in children is commonly measured by parental report questionnaires, yet it is unknown if parentsaccurately estimate their child's selective eating behavior. The objectives of this study were to test the validityand stability of two measures of selective eating using observed child behavior. Low-income mother-child dyadsparticipated in a videotaped laboratory eating protocol at two time points (baseline: mean child age=5.9 years;follow-up: mean child age=8.6 years), during which they were presented with a familiar and an unfamiliarvegetable. Videos were reliably coded for child selective eating behaviors: amount consumed, child hedonicrating of vegetables, child compliance with maternal prompts to eat, latency to first bite, number of bites, andnegative utterances. Mothers completed the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire Food Fussiness (CEBQ FF) scaleand the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) at both time points. Questionnaire validity, stability of measured behaviors,and discriminant validity of questionnaires were examined in the full sample. CEBQ FF scores and FNS scoreswere both inversely correlated with the quantity consumed, child hedonic rating, and compliance with promptsto eat for both familiar and unfamiliar vegetables at baseline and at follow up. CEBQ FF and FNS scores wereinversely correlated with number of bites (for both foods), positively correlated with latency to first bite (forboth foods), and inversely correlated with child negative utterances (for the familiar food only). Notably, FNSscores correlated with observed behavior for both familiar and unfamiliar foods, rather than demonstrating aspecific association with unfamiliar foods only. This study supports the validity of the CEBQ FF and FNS in lowincomeearly school-aged children.