ASSESSMENT OF ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PARENTAL FEEDING PRACTICE AND CHILDREN EATING BEHAVIOR AMONG PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN ADDIS ABABA

Background: Low and middle-income countries are facing both extremes of public health nutrition problems. Despite the well-established risk factors of mal-nutrition, individual differences in eating behaviors may contribute to the existing variation in nutritional status. Eating behaviors are biological and behavioral processes directed towards meeting bodily requirements; and these behaviors develop during the first years of life. Eating behaviors can be categorized as food approach and food avoidant. Some of the food approach behaviors are enjoyment of food (EF), food responsiveness (FR), emotional overeating (EOE), desire to drink (DD), and food avoidant behaviors are satiety responsiveness (SR), slowness in eating (SE), emotional under eating (EUE) and food fussiness (FF). Parents and caregivers influence their children’s eating behavior through communicating their attitudes and beliefs about food and feeding.
Objective: To assess the different eating behaviors of preschool children and to determine its association with parental feeding practice in Addis Ababa.
Method: A school based cross-sectional study was conducted among preschool children in randomly selected schools. A stratified multi-stage sampling procedure was followed. Eating behavior was measured using a children eating behavior questionnaire and for the parental feeding practice together with parents perception and concern about child weight and perceived feeding responsibility the child feeding questionnaire was used. For parent depression status and child psychological status patient health questionnaire and strength and difficulties questionnaire were used respectively