The relationships between caregivers' self-reported and visual perception of child weight and their non-responsive feeding practices: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: The impacts of caregivers' perception of child weight on their non-responsive feeding practices are inconclusive. This systematic review aimed to examine their relationships.

Methods: A systematic search of five databases was conducted from inception to March 2022, following PRISMA guidelines. Data synthesis was performed using semi-quantitative approach and meta-analysis.

Results: Twenty-two studies with 12005 respondents were included for semi-quantitative analyses. Eighteen studies examined 26 associations between caregivers' perception of child weight and food restriction with 12 statistically significant associations being observed. A total of 22 relationships between caregivers' perception of child weight and pressure to eat were investigated, with 13 being statistically significant. The statistically significant associations consistently reported that caregivers' visual and self-reported perception of child weight was positively associated with their restrictive feeding and negatively associated with pressure to eat. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) indicated that caregivers who perceived their child as overweight were found to apply pressure to eat less frequently (OR = 0.61; 95%CI: 0.44, 0.84) compared with those who did not. However, caregivers' perception of child weight was not statistically significantly associated with restrictive feeding (OR = 1.37; 95%CI: 0.74, 2.55).

Conclusion: Caregivers' self-reported and visual perception of child weight may be important risk factors for non-responsive feeding practices, particularly food restriction and pressure to eat. Thus, interventions need to consider the role of caregivers' perception of child weight, which may optimize feeding practices. Furthermore, longitudinal and intervention-based studies using validated measurements while controlling for potential covariates are needed to provide more evidence on their causal relationships.

Keywords: Caregivers; Children; Feeding practices; Systematic review; Weight perception; meta-Analysis.