Abstract

Negative food parenting practices, such as putting pressure on children to eat and restricting their food, are linked to food insecurity and may encourage obesity in children. The connection between food insecurity and positive food parenting practices, such as introducing the child to new foods and involving the child in the cooking process,is less well understood. In addition, very few studies have examined the connections between child eating behaviors that have been linked to poor dietary outcomes and food insecurity. In a largely Hispanic, low-income sample of parents and their preschool-aged children (n = 66), we examined the relationships between food security status, food parenting practices, and child eating behaviors using baseline data from a larger pilot intervention. Caregivers recruited from four urban communities in Rhode Island completed assessments of food parenting practices, household food security, and four child eating behaviors between July 2019 and 2020: food responsiveness,emotional overeating, satiety responsiveness, and enjoyment of food Food insecurity was not directly linked to any food parenting practice, despite the fact that 46% of caregivers reported experiencing food insecurity.