Recollected Pressure to Eat in Childhood Predicts College Student Eating Behaviors

Picky eating (PE) is a childhood behavior that vexes many parents. How this behavior develops into adulthood and whether it is predictive of adult eating behavior is relatively unstudied. Both PE in childhood and low intuitive eating (IE) in adulthood are associated with controlling feeding practices, eating disorder symptomology, and a low variety of preferred foods. Pressure to eat (PR), a parental controlling feeding practice aimed at encouraging a child to eat more, is positively associated with PE. Current IE and disordered eating behaviors were measured in 170 college students using the Intuitive Eating Scale and the Eating Disorder Inventory, and childhood PE and PR were measured using parents’ retrospective reports. It was hypothesized that PE and PR in childhood would predict low IE and disordered eating behaviors in college students. Furthermore, it was hypothesized the interaction between PE and PR would be a stronger predictor.