The impact of feeding styles on unhealthy dietary intakes and weight-for-length z-scores: Investigating sweet beverages and snack food consumption during early childhood in a diverse sample

Background: Parental feeding styles shape children's dietary choices and weight. Objectives: To examine the relationships between parental feeding styles, sweet beverages and snack foods intakes, and weight-for-length z-scores (WFLz) in young children. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 96 mother-child dyads (mean child age = 14.9 months, SD = 2.6). Mothers completed the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, assessing five styles: responsive, restrictive, pressuring, indulgent, and laissez-faire. Three 24-h dietary recalls were analyzed using the Nutrition Data System for Research. Dietary components were categorized as sweet beverages (e.g., sugar-sweetened beverages, 100 % juice) and snack foods (e.g., cookies, chips). Child height and weight were measured. Multivariable linear regressions examined associations between feeding styles, unhealthy dietary intake, and child WFLz, adjusting for covariates. Results: Pressuring feeding style was positively associated with mean frequency (β = 0.39, p < 0.001), mean energy (β = 0.34, p = 0.003), and % energy (β = 0.38, p < 0.001) from sweet beverages, but negatively associated with mean frequency (β = -0.24, p = 0.034) and % energy (β = −0.22, p = 0.044) from snack foods. Restrictive feeding style was negatively associated with mean energy (β = −0.24, p = 0.036) and % energy (β = −0.23, p = 0.05) from snack foods. Higher mean frequency (β = 0.38, p = 0.002), mean energy (β = 0.37, p = 0.003), and % energy from sweet beverages (β = 0.35, p = 0.004) were associated with higher child WFLz. The effect of sweet beverages on child WFLz was not mediated by pressuring feeding style. Conclusions: The contrasting associations of pressuring feeding with sweet beverage and snack consumption highlight the need for nuanced approaches in addressing parental feeding practices to mitigate obesity risk in early childhood.