Fathers' structure-related food parenting practices and child emotional overeating during pandemic

Background: Fathers play an important role in child development but are rarely included in research on the parental determinants of child eating behavior. This omission requires addressing, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which families spent more time at home and thus more time together for meals and snacks. Previous research in mothers suggests providing structure around children's eating may be beneficial for child eating behavior. We aimed to investigate associations of fathers' reports of provision of structure around children's eating during the pandemic with child eating behavior and diet during the pandemic. Methods: Fathers (N = 112) of 2-12- year- old children completed an online survey in May/June 2020 including questions on structure-related food parenting practices (e.g. insist child eats at table, not allowing child to wander around during meal, father decides timing of meal), child eating behaviors (emotional overeating [EOE], food responsiveness [FR]), and child diet. Correlations and path models were used to examine individual and simultaneous relationships. Results: A third of the sample was more likely to eat meals together compared to before the pandemic. Structure-related food parenting practices were significantly negatively associated with EOE (β = -. 434, p = .004) but not FR (β = -. 227, p = .132). EOE was significantly positively correlated with children's sweet and savory snack intake (e.g. chocolate, cookies/cake, donuts, ice cream, low-fat chips, savory snacks;rho = .244 to .504) as well as fast food intake (rho = .432). Conclusions: Our results suggest that fathers' provision of structure around children's eating during the pandemic may be associated with lower levels of obesity-associated eating behaviors in their children, which could contribute to healthier profiles of food intake and body weight.

Parental stress, food parenting practices and child snack intake during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to the lives of families. This study aimed to investigate the impact of pandemic-associated stress on food parenting practices including interactions surrounding snacks, and child diet. METHODS: Parents (N = 318) of 2-12-year old children completed a cross-sectional online survey assessing current COVID-19-specific stress, pre-COVID-19 stress, financial stress (e.g. food insecurity), food parenting practices, and child snack intake frequency. Structural Equation Modeling was used to model simultaneous paths of relationships and test direct and indirect effects. RESULTS: Stress, including financial hardship, was higher compared with before the crisis. The majority of children had regular mealtimes and irregular snack times. Higher COVID-19-specific stress was associated with more non-nutritive use of food and snacks (e.g. emotional and instrumental feeding), but also more structure and positive interactions (e.g. eating with or engaging with child around mealtimes). Higher COVID-19-specific stress was also associated with greater child intake frequency of sweet and savory snacks, with some evidence for mediation by snack parenting practices. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may be linked to child snack intake with potential impacts on child obesity risk, and suggest several modifiable points of intervention within the family context.

COVID stress and food intake: Differences by food type and influences of eating traits

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic caused major lifestyle disruption in 2020, changing eating patterns and stresslevels. Here, we describe these changes and examine relationships between stress and intake in the COVID crisis. Methods: In May-June 2020, we surveyed 493 adults (age: 37.0+/-9.1y;BMI: 27.6+/-6.1 kg/ m2) to examine current intake frequency of various food types (e.g. sweets and desserts, savory snacks, fast food, fruits, and vegetables), changes in intake frequency (retrospective subjective comparison to pre-COVID intake), emotional overeating scores, and COVID-related stress (16-item scale). All models controlled for BMI, sex, and pre- COVID general stress ratings. Results: Around 90% of participants reported changes to intake frequency of at least one food type during the pandemic. Proportions reporting increased intake were highest for chocolates/candy (33.6%) and cookies/cakes (32.0%). The proportion reporting decreased intake was highest for fast food (38.5%). The majority of participants reported no change in intake of low-fat chips (66.7%), sweet beverages (63.2%), fruits (51.1%) and vegetables (56.9%). Multinomial regression models showed that higher COVID-stress was associated with a lower likelihood of reporting unchanged intake of all types of sweet and savory foods, while higher BMI (B=-0.05;p=0.009) and COVID-stress (B=-0.49;p=0.001) were related to a lower likelihood of reporting unchanged fast food intake. Linear regression models showed a significant interaction between COVID-stress and emotional overeating scores such that those with higher emotional overeating showed a stronger positive relationship between stress and sweet and dessert intake (B=3.7;p=.001). Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that COVID-19 has differential impacts on food intake depending on food type, and high stress is associated with a greater likelihood of intake changes during the crisis. Also, high trait emotional overeating exacerbates COVID-stress-related intake of sweets and desserts.

Binge watching during COVID: Associations with stress and body weight

Background: Binge watching (BW) is a widespread phenomenon with potential to impact energy balance and thereby body weight. Previous studies show stress is associated with TV viewing and increased weight, but the influence of stress on BW and weight is understudied. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures created conditions conducive to BW and increased stress. Here we investigated relationships between BW, stress, and weight by examining reports of BW during (concurrent report) and before (retrospective report) the pandemic. Methods: 439 adults (age: 37.0±9.1y;BMI: 28.0±7.3 kg/m2) completed an online survey assessing BW behaviors, COVID-related stress, and BMI. Of the total sample, 167 (38.0%) were normal weight, 154 (35.1%) overweight, and 121 (27.6%) obese. We ran repeated measures ANOVAs with time (pre-COVID vs now), and stress tertiles and weight groups as between-subjects factors. Results: The duration of a typical BW increased from 3.3±1.9h (range 0-10.3h) before the COVID crisis to 3.9±2.1h (range 0-10.5h) during the crisis (p<.001). BW frequency also increased (p<.001) with the number of participants reporting BW 3-7x a week increasing from n=57 (9.8%) to n=136 (29.2%). BW frequency was greater with higher stress (p=.023), driven by higher values in the high stress group compared to the low stress groups (p=.027). A time x stress x weight group interaction was identified such that reported increases in BW were greatest in individuals with obesity and high stress levels (p=0.045). Higher stress was associated with eating while BW (p=.001), where the number of participants reporting often/always eating while BW was greatest in the high stress group (high stress: 45.7%, n=53;medium stress: 24.8%, n=32;low stress 20.9%, n=18). Conclusions: Binge watching increased during the pandemic, with larger increases for individuals with obesity and high stress, and concomitant effects on eating, highlighting a potential target for interventions to minimize obesogenic impact of the ongoing crisis.