Date of Award
5-2022
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
Nutrition and Dietetics BS
Department
Nutrition and Food Systems
First Advisor
Holly Huye, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Scotty Piland, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Sabine Heinhorst, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
Nutrition and Food Systems
Abstract
Emotional eating is a commonly reported eating behavior among United States adults; however, previous literature has indicated that the development of emotional eating is abnormal with regard to the body’s typical physiologic functioning. Although several studies have shown parental feeding practices correlate to the development of emotional eating in children, little research has been done to explore the association between parental feeding practices experienced in childhood and eating behaviors present in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between parental feeding practices in childhood (i.e., food as a reward, monitoring, restriction, and pressure to eat) and current eating behaviors as a young adult (i.e., food as a reward, monitoring, restriction, and emotional eating). Data were collected from undergraduate students at the University of Southern Mississippi using an online questionnaire. Results of this study show a positive correlation between parents using food as a reward in childhood and students currently using food to reward themselves. Additionally, a positive correlation existed between parents using food as a reward in childhood and current emotional eating behaviors.
Keywords: emotional eating, parental feeding practices, food as a reward, food restriction, food monitoring, BMI
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Babin, Mercedes, "Retrospective Reports of Parental Feeding Practices and Current Emotional Eating Behaviors among College Students" (2022). Honors Theses. 834.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/834