Factors Associated with Caregiver Responsive and Non-Responsive Feeding Styles in Clark County, Nevada.

Objective: Early childhood obesity (ECO) significantly increased in the United States. ECO interventions lack focus on the prevention of ECO for infants under two. Caregiver's feeding styles (CFS) has shown to affect ECO development, but studies on CFS are limited. This study examined socioecological factors associated with CFS for infants under two in Nevada.

Design: This cross-sectional study utilizing a survey, examined the five CFS-constructs: Responsive (RP), Non-Responsive (NRP) laissez-faire, NRP-pressuring, NRP-restrictive, and NRP-indulgent. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression following a hierarchical modeling approach were used to determine the associations between the CFS-constructs and socioecological factors (e.g., household, maternal mental health, and infant feeding).

Setting: Clark County, Nevada.

Participants: 304 caregivers with infants under two.

Results: NRP feeding styles were associated with low-income households (e.g., NRP-restrictive (AOR=2.60, 95% CI [1.01-6.71])), water insecurity (e.g., NRP-pressuring (AOR=2.46, 95% CI [1.00-6.06]), young mothers (e.g., NRP-laissez-faire (AOR=2.39, 95% CI [1.00-5.84])), lower maternal education (e.g., RP (AOR=0.58, 95% CI [0.33-1.00])), mild risk for depression (e.g., NRP-restrictive (AOR=0.50, 95% CI [0.28-0.90])) and a moderate to severe risk for anxiety (e.g., NRP-pressuring (AOR=0.32, 95% CI [0.14-0.74])). There were no associations between infant feeding factors and RP feeding.

Conclusion: Our study identified socioecological factors associated with dissimilarities in CFS in Nevada. These findings can be used to tailor educational approaches to address disparities in early childhood obesity.