The Relationship Between Parental Eating Problems and Children's Feeding Behavior: a Selective Review of the Literature

This review describes the research evidence linking parental eating problems with processes that affect children's food selection and rejection, including child feeding difficulties, and child dieting practices and attitudes. First, studies that assess the relationship between parental eating disorder and child feeding are reviewed. Secondly, research that examines the relationship between parent and child dieting behavior and attitudes is reviewed. Finally, the eating characteristics of parents whose children have feeding difficulties are discussed. There is no consensus in the literature about the relationships between parent and child feeding and eating disturbance, and mechanisms for the intergenerational transmission of these behaviors have yet to be established.