Background: Overweight children as young as 5 years old exhibit disturbances in eating behaviors.
Methods: Using follow-up data from 419 participants in High Five for Kids, a randomized controlled trial of overweight children, the prevalence of (1) eating in the absence of hunger and (2) food sneaking, hiding, and hoarding was estimated and cross-sectional associations of parental control of feeding and these behaviors were examined using covariate-adjusted logistic regression models.
Results: At follow-up, mean [standard deviation (SD)] age of the children was 7.1 (1.2) years; 49% were female; 16% were healthy weight, 35% were overweight, and 49% were obese. On the basis of parental report, 16.5% of children were eating in the absence of hunger and 27.2% were sneaking, hiding, or hoarding food; 57.5% of parents endorsed parental control of feeding. In adjusted models, children exposed to parental control of feeding were more likely to eat in the absence of hunger [odds ratio (OR) 3.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.66, 6.86], but not to sneak, hide, or hoard food (OR 1.43, 95% CI 0.87, 2.36).
Conclusions: Disturbances in eating behaviors are common among overweight children. Future research should be dedicated to identifying strategies that normalize eating behaviors and prevent excess weight gain among overweight children.