RESEARCH ARTICLE
Impact of Picky Eating on Level of Family Stress in Healthy Children between the Ages of 3 and 6 Years
Rocío Ramos-Paúla, Barbara J. Marriageb, Roberto Ruiz Debezac, Liliana Oliveros Leald, Luis Ros Mare, Luis Torres Cardonaa, Jennifer A. Williams*, b
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 8
First Page: 13
Last Page: 18
Publisher Id: TONUTRJ-8-13
DOI: 10.2174/1874288201408010013
Article History:
Received Date: 06/06/2014Revision Received Date: 02/10/2014
Acceptance Date: 14/10/2014
Electronic publication date: 28/11/2014
Collection year: 2014
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objective.
One of the goals of this study was to measure the impact of a child’s eating habits on a family’s level of stress related to meal times in the home.
Methods.
A cross-sectional survey study was conducted on 1,090 children between the ages of three and six years, in Madrid, Spain from 2010 to 2011. Questionnaires about the child’s eating habits, family stress, and medical history, along with a three-day food record were filled out by parents.
Results.
Levels of family stress related to meal time occasions were statistically higher in the picky eater (PE) group compared to the healthy eater (HE) group (p=0.007).
Conclusion.
This study demonstrates a possible relationship between picky eating behaviors and family stress in the home. Higher levels of family stress can have long-term negative behavioral consequences or changes on the family dynamic, which may further exacerbate feeding disorders.