Children's healthy and unhealthy food intake related to parental fear of COVID-19, family communication patterns, and parental controlling feeding practices

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 changed the daily lives of families, including their food environments. We tested a conceptual model of potential influences on children's dietary intake under these conditions.Methods310 (51% fathers) parents with children ages 5-12 were recruited for an online study. Parents completed questionnaires to measure fear of COVID-19, family communication patterns, parental controlling feeding practices, and child's healthy and unhealthy food intake. Structural equation modeling was conducted, including a path analysis and a multi-group analysis to compare mothers and fathers.ResultsParental fear of COVID-19 was related to more conversation and conformity-oriented family communication patterns, which were associated with more parental controlling feeding practices. Conversation-oriented communication was related to less, while conformity-oriented communication was related to more unhealthy food intake by children.ConclusionFamily communication patterns play an important role in children's dietary intake. Therefore, it may be useful to help parents adopt positive parenting approaches to influence their children's healthy development.