Parental feeding practices, food neophobia, and child food preferences: What combination of factors results in children eating a variety of foods? Jill L. Kaar a,⇑ , Allison L.B. Shapiro b , Donna M. Fell c , Susan L. Johnson a a Department of Pediatrics, Colorado School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States b Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States c Department of Nutrition, Metropolitan State University of Denver, United States article info Article history: Received 14 July 2015 Received in revised form 12 January 2016 Accepted 14 January 2016 Available online 16 January 2016 Keywords: Parental feeding practices Child food neophobia Food preferences Eating behaviors Food acceptance Parent–child concordance abstract Our aim was to describe food neophobia, parenting feeding practices, and concordance in food prefer- ences between parent–child dyads using a cross-sectional on-line survey completed by parents of preschoolers (3–5 y). Respondents (n = 210) included mothers (89%) who were predominantly white (85%) and college educated (64%). Most children (mean age = 41.7 mo ± 14.9), were perceived to be of a healthy weight (81%) and ‘‘good eaters” (60%). Parent (21.9 ± 7.4) and child food neophobia (30.4 ± 8.8) correlated significantly, though modestly (r = 0.14, p = 0.04). The parent practice of offering new foods to eat was inversely associated with child food neophobia (r = À0.40, p < .0001) and pressure to eat (r = À0.13, p = 0.07). Parent–child dyads had >75% concordance in preferences for whole grains, fruit, starchy vegetables, and dairy. Lowest concordance (39–66%) was noted for sweetened beverages and entrees. Discordance occurred when parents had never offered their children a food (e.g., vegetables), and was uninfluenced by demographic factors. A child’s food neophobia and overweight status was asso- ciated with the child having a lower consumption of vegetables. Parent reports of giving the child more control of food-related decisions was associated with a higher number of healthy foods rated as liked by a child. Similarities in parent–child food preferences may be related to food neophobia and, consequently, the foods parents offer their children. Educating parents on the potential impact of feeding practices may be important for early intervention efforts to improve children’s food acceptance. Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Food preferences and eating patterns develop in early childhood and remain relatively stable through adolescence (Northstone & Emmett, 2008) and adulthood (Mikkila, Rasanen, Raitakari, Pietinen, & Viikari, 2005). Therefore, early childhood may represent a sensitive window of development for establishing good eating practices and healthy food preferences that could potentially impact an individual’s lifelong health. Known factors impacting the development of a child’s food preferences include parental characteristics such as parental feeding practices, parents’ own childhood eating experiences, and caregiver’s food neophobia (fear of trying new foods) (Birch, 1999; Fletcher, Branen, & Lawrence, 1997; Ventura & Birch, 2008; Vereecken, Rovner, & Maes, 2010), as well as a child’s own food neophobia (Fletcher et al., 1997; Ventura & Birch, 2008). The influence of parents and their behaviors surrounding eating and food choices (Bova & Arcidiacono, 2014) suggests that parents play a key role in shaping a child’s food preferences and eating pat- terns (Gregory, Paxton, & Brozovic, 2011). Parental feeding prac- tices that influence children’s development of food preferences and intake patterns include modeling, restriction of foods, and pressuring a child to eat (Birch, 1999; Vereecken et al., 2010). Specifically, pressuring a child to eat is negatively associated with food acceptance (Birch & Marlin, 1982; Newman & Taylor, 1992), may negatively impact overall diet quality (Scaglioni, Salvioni, & Galimberti, 2008), and has been found to be a significant mediating factor between maternal feeding beliefs and food neophobia (Cassells, Magarey, Daniels, & Mallan, 2014). Alternatively, paren- tal modeling of healthy eating has been shown to correlate with lower rates of children’s picky eating (Gregory, Paxton, & Brozovic, 2010). Furthermore, parents’ influence on a child’s diet via the foods they make available in the environment and the prac- tices they use to offer foods to their children may also contribute to http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2016.01.006 0950-3293/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Mail Stop F561, Academic Office 1, 12631 E. 17th Ave, Rm. L15-2615, Aurora, CO 80045, United States. E-mail address: Jill.Kaar@ucdenver.edu (J.L. Kaar). Food Quality and Preference 50 (2016) 57–64 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Quality and Preference journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodqual