Parental

attitudes and restrictions during childhood and the effect on adulthood eating habits
Crystal Vasquez
N F S C 4 2 9 : C u l t u r a l F o o d s

S p r i n g 2 0 1 3

Abstract
Childhood eating practices impact and guide how we eat as adults. Parents

have the most influence on their childs eating habits as children and this influence lingers into adulthood eating behaviors. This investigation examined adults memories surrounding food and their current eating behaviors and attitudes regarding food. Qualitative interviews were conducted with two females and two males. All participants had the strongest memories of their mothers when discussing food related issues. In the participants that experienced over-restriction as a child led to disordered and emotional eating as an adult. However, in retrospect male participants desired more food rules as a child, so they would have tried a larger variety of foods as a child. Food rules included rules surrounding food, such as finishing all the food on your plate, or finishing all your vegetables. Having busy schedules as adults was also a factor in current eating behaviors, though one participant reported having a busy schedule as a child and eating on-the-go and he currently eats for convenience reasons rather than planning and health. All participants, regardless of childhood recollections, reported a willingness to try a wider variety of foods.

Introduction and Literature Review

Establishment of adult dietary behaviors may be founded in childhood feeding practices.1 Parents have the most influence on their childrens current feeding behaviors and may impact future eating habits. Children who were pressured to eat when not hungry or eat undesirable foods may alter their dietary 2 | P a g e

practices following emancipation as young adults. In 2010, researchers from the Appalachian State University reported the impact that childhood food environments have on young adults dietary choices in which parental recollection was collected. They found that children who were forced to eat certain foods, like vegetables, are unwilling to eat them as adults.2 Eating habits and preferences are established during childhood; parents have the greatest influence on a persons views on food. To teach children about proper nutrition, parents will often use food rules to establish proper behaviors. These food rules, can range from finishing all their food and/or vegetables on their plate or only having dessert at certain times. Assessing the impact that these food rules have on adult behavior can help parents in teaching their children to have a healthy relationship with food. In a qualitative study done by researchers at University of Alberta found that food rules in childhood, such as the clean your plate rule, had a dramatic effect on the weight status of adults. Subjects in this study also discussed parental experience with food deprivation as shaping childrens attitudes towards food. 3Adults who have had childhood experiences of food being used as a reward or punishment experience higher rates of binge eating and dietary restraint.4 A study done by the University of Alberta, Canada, found that obese subjects were more likely to have had food rules as children than normal weight subjects.3 Galloway, Farrow and Martz found a positive correlation between parental restriction and emotional eating among 71 female college students.2 Finding associations between eating behaviors and attitudes in adults based on childhood feeding practices could be used to prevent future unhealthy eating 3 | P a g e

practices. Previous studies have focused on weight; however, the goal of this study was not to focus on weight as an indicator of healthy eating behaviors, but to focus on food memories, especially those regarding restrictions and rules to assess how those learned patterns effect eating behaviors into adulthood. The current research is a valuable tool in finding correlations between childhood eating behaviors and adults. Examining motivations behind current adults eating behaviors and the memories they have surrounding food can also give us additional insight to why adults may choose to eat as they do.

Methods
Participants for this research study are adults who have autonomous control

of their food purchasing and preparation. Additionally they have lived away from their parents home and/or the dorms for more than 6 months. This demographic was chosen to insure that any initial changes in eating habits are not due to having newfound independence. Participants were recruited via on an online announcement asking for adults who would be willing to participant in an interview regarding childhood and current eating experiences. Two females and two males with college-level education were interviewed, however participants had no formal nutrition education. None of the participants have been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Participant #1 is a 35-year old married male; throughout this article, he will be referred to as Bob. He is a college graduate and works at a local television station. He has a close relationship with his mother and his father is recently deceased. Participant #2 is a 33-year old married female; throughout this article, she will be referred to as Kim. She is a college 4 | P a g e

graduate, employed as a billing clerk at a local hospital. She has a close relationship with her mother and father. Participant #3 was a 36-year old married female; throughout this article she will be referred to as Sarah. She has a BA in psychology and now works at a veterinary clinic. Both of her parents passed away while she was in college. Participant #4 was a 32-year old married male; though out this article he will be referred to as Tom. He has a masters degree in math and is Jr. High math teacher. His parents still play an important role in his life. His father is a renal doctor and his mother is a neonatal nurse. The participants for this study had different food related backgrounds, Bob and Kim are self-proclaimed foodies and Sarah and Tom considered themselves to be convenience eaters. The purpose of these interviews was to elicit any memories regarding food and how they relate to current eating behaviors. These interviews lasted approximately 30 minutes each and focused on childhood memories of food and any food restrictions and/or rules, the interviews were transitioned to discuss current views on food including restrictions or binging. Participants were asked open-ended questions. The list of questions asked is in Table 1. During these interviews, no nutrition education or advice was given. An audio recording of the interviews was taken with permission to insure accuracy. After each interview, detailed field notes were developed using recording of the interview and hand written notes that were taken during the interview. Field notes were then analyzed using edge coding to determine themes and concepts. Once coding was complete, a matrix of themes was created so participants could be compared for common themes. These themes were also compared to the existing 5 | P a g e

research on the topic to identify differences and similarities found. Figure 1 for themes identified. Table 1: Qualitative Interview Guide Questions 1. What are your childhood memories surrounding food? 2. What were your favorite foods? Least favorite foods? 3. How much did your parents discuss nutrition and food with you when you were younger? 4. Did your parents have any rules regarding food? If, so what were these rules? 5. Where there any foods you were not allowed to eat? Or forced to eat? a) If so, do you eat these now? b) How does that make you feel? 6. How do your eating habits now compare to how you ate as a child? 7. Do you find yourself restricting foods or feeling uncontrolled around food? a) Tell me more about that 8. If current eating habits are not unhealthy How have you developed healthy eating habits despite childhood experiences?

Results and Discussion

Overview Five common themes were identified: 1) Childhood Memories, 2) Childhood Restrictions 3) Childhood Food Rules 4) Adult eating Patterns/Behaviors 5) Adult Restrictions.

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 Childhood Memories
Parents or Grandparents Social Setting "Special time" with one parent Traditional Foods

Adult Patterns

Childhood restrictions
Restriction for weight loss "Treats" were restricted Childhood binging

Childhood Food Rules

Finish your plate Eat all vegetables Portion control Desire for more childhood rules

Adult Eating Behaviors Eating for health Emotional eating Eating for convience Wider variety Dislikes same foods as an adult than when a child Adult Restriction Self-restrition Adult Binging

Childhood Patterns

Figure 1. Themes identified Childhood Memories All participants reported memories of their mothers in connection with food memories growing up. Three out of the four participants regarded their mother as a good cook and they had special foods tied to their mothers memory. The fourth participant, Tom, had memories surrounding his mother and food centered on traveling to his multiple events and eating on the go. 7 | P a g e

For Bob and Tom, some foods items also meant special time with one parent. Bob remembered helping his mother make non-alcoholic daiquiris for the children at parties. Tom has fond memories of his father making him special milk (milk with vanilla added). All the participants, except Kim, had memories surrounding food and social settings. However, Kim associated her grandfather with him preparing comfort foods for her. Her favorite food was her grandfathers wet burritos. All participants, except Tom, remembered eating traditional foods. Kim ate traditional American meals, such as tuna casserole. Bob ate traditional Southern American meals at his grandparents, such as grits and eggs and biscuits. Sarahs traditional food experiences were unique compared to the other participants. Her parents were Polish and prepared traditional Polish meals. Traditional Polish foods were not only consumed in her home, but her mother packed her lunches with traditional foods as well. This made her feel like she was different from other children; she said she was the weird kid. Bob said his earliest memory surrounding food was when he was eating popcorn and because of his greasy fingers; he slipped off a swing set and broke his arm. Bob mentioned that, To this day, it still bothers me to have greasy fingers. However, popcorn is still his favorite food, but he will only eat it with one hand to insure he still has one hand that it clean. He feels that this is because of the memory of breaking his arm. Childhood Restrictions 8 | P a g e

Only one of the participants had restrictions of food while growing up. Kim was restricted from foods because her mother desired that she lose weight, treats were restricted and she experienced binging as a child. Kims mother wanted her to lose weight, even though Kim was not overweight. She enjoyed her mothers cooking, which made her want to eat. Yet, she was scolded if she ate too much. Her mother restricted foods from her beginning when she was eight years old. When Kim was in high school and had great control over her food choices, she found her self restricting foods because they are bad for you and then binging on these foods for emotional reasons. These behaviors and feelings have continued into adulthood. Childhood Food Rules All participants had varying degrees of food rules. Kim had the strictest amount of food rules. Even though her mother restricted her portion sizes and what she ate, she was forced to finish all the food on her plate, regardless of if she liked the food or not. She was told, This is whats for dinner, starve or eat it tomorrow. She often was served the food she did not finish for dinner, the next day at lunch. Snacking was only allowed with permission. Her mother had candy in the house, but did not let her have it very often. Kim remembers sneaking treats and extra of the food she liked. She would get in trouble when her mother found out. When she was able to buy her own treats, she often hid them from her mother and overindulged on these items. Bob had the most food rules including: finishing all the food on his plate, eating all of his vegetables, and portion control. However, Bob was not restricting 9 | P a g e

from eating certain foods (other than dessert was only for after dinner), His family encouraged him to only take the food that he would eat and therefore wanted him to eat the food that he had put on his plate. His parents encouraged him to try everything, but if he did not like it, he did not have to have it again. However, he did not like peas, but his grandmother made him have one pea for every person that was at the table. Bob expressed a desire for more food rules; he feels that this would have encouraged him to try more foods as a child. Sarah only had one food rule as a child and that was that she needed to eat all

of her vegetables. However, she was not required to finish all of her food. If she did not like something, she did not have eat it. Once she entered high school she no longer had to follow these rules and was given more control over her food choices. Tom had the lightest degree of food rules and restrictions. He says he had no rules surrounding food as a child, other than when his mother served carrots. He was told he had to finish them. He did not have to eat any other vegetables growing up and desired more food rules. He feels that if he had more rules he would have been a less picky eater and eats a wider variety of foods. Adult Eating Patterns/Behaviors Bob and Kim refer to themselves as foodies. They currently eat a wide variety of foods and are happy to experiment with cooking different foods and vegetables. Bob feels as if he also eats better now as an adult than as a child, because he is focused on improving health. Kim finds herself emotionally eating as an adult, which this is a behavior she has had since childhood.

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Both Kim and Sarah dislike the same foods as adults that they disliked as children. For example, Kim did not like eggs as a child and was forced to eat them anyways; she now has an extreme aversion to eggs. Sarah was not forced to eat the foods she did not like as a child, but is still unwilling to eat them, Brussels sprouts for example. Sarah and Tom both eat for convenience reasons. They eat out a lot or get fast food. Cooking and nutrition has not been an important part of their life, though they have a desire to change this behavior. Even though they eat for convenience reasons, they find themselves more willing to try more foods as they get older and are eating a wider variety of foods now compared to when they were children. Adult Restrictions Kim had the greatest childhood food restriction and food rules; she has the highest amount of self-restriction and adult binging behaviors. She finds herself going for extended periods of time with eating food that are bad for you and will then purchase sweets. She will not eat them right away but will hide them and then eat them later when no one is home. Bob had the greatest number of food rules while growing up. He often finds

himself not eating foods he enjoys for health reasons, but them binging on them later. Popcorn and Cheetos were an example given. He will eat these foods while alone, not because he is ashamed of what he is eating, but because he wants to enjoy the food and not share with others. adult. 11 | P a g e Sarah and Tom experience less restrictions, less disordered eating as an

Figure 2. Childhood Food Rules and Restriction compared to Adult Disorder Eating Behaviors

Childhood Food Rules and Restriction compared to Adult Disorder Eating Behaviors
# of Disordered Eating Behaviors 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 # of Food Rules and Restrictions as a Child

Conclusion and Recommendations

Extreme food rules, such as finishing all the food on your plate, can cause

disordered eating (restriction and binging cycles) into adulthood. As concluded by the University of Alberta, none of their normal weight subjects had a clean-plate rule and only one normal weight person mentioned any food rules.3 However, having some rules surrounding food may benefit children, such as requiring them to try different foods. According to Ellyn Satters Division of Responsibility in Feeding, a child may need to be offered a food 5 to 20 times before they learn to enjoy it. However, children need to be the ones to decide when and if they will eat it.5 Questions in this study could have been more focused on any positive outcomes as 12 | P a g e

adults to find out how healthy adult eating habits can be fostered even after having negative childhood memories surrounding food. It is difficult to overcome food rules and restrictions that were engrained as children, a future study that focused on people whom have overcome excessive food rules and restrictions and now have healthy eating patterns would be useful to help others.

References
1. Coulthard, H., Blissett, G., & Harris, G. The relationship between parental eating problems and children's feeding behavior: A selective review of the literature. Eating Behaviors , 5 (2), 103-115. 2. Galloway, A. T., Farrow, C. V., & Martz, D. M. (2010). Retrospective Reports of Child Feeding Practices, Current Eating Behaviors, and BMI in College Students . Obesity Journal , 18 (7), 1330-1335. 3. Brink, P. J., Ferguson, K., & Sharma, A. (1999). Childhood Memories About Food: The Successful Dieters Project. Journal of Child and Adolescnet Psychiatric Nursing , 12 (1), 17-25. 4. Puhl, R. M., & Schwartz, B. M. (2003). If you are good you can have a cookie: How memories of childhood food rules link to adult eating behaviors . Eating Behaviors , 4, 283-293. 5. Satter, E. (2012). How Children Learn to Like New Food. Retrieved April 15, 2013, from Ellyn Satter Associates: http://www.ellynsatter.com/how-children-learn-to- like-new-food-i-37.html

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