A review of the Caregiver\u27s Feeding Style Questionnaire (CFSQ): Differences in parent-child feeding styles across geographic location, caregiver roles, and Head Start samples
Introduction: The Caregiver’s Feeding Style Questionnaire (CFSQ) is a measure of parent feeding styles developed for low-income minority families. It is made up of four main categories which are associated with different child outcomes including childhood obesity. This review sought to describe the differences in child outcomes among international populations, maternal caregivers, and Head Start samples.
Method: This review examined 683 publications that cited the 2005 Hughes article introducing the CFSQ measure. Of these, only 44 were relevant to our review because they met the inclusion criteria of 1) using the CFSQ measure and 2) providing a categorical breakdown of feeding styles.
Results: A handful of these studies (k=5) were made up of international populations including England, Sri Lanka, and Mexico. The categorical breakdown for these studies was as follows (Authoritative=14.34%, Authoritarian=40.73%, Indulgent=30.01%, Uninvolved=14.94%). Studies including mothers (k=11) were categorized into different parent-feeding styles: (Michigan mothers: Authoritative=25%,American Indian mothers: Indulgent=52.2%). For studies involving populations of Head Start children there was a clear polarization where participants mainly fell into the categories of Authoritarian (30.8%) and Indulgent (32.5%).
Discussion: The authoritative feeding style is associated with the most positive outcomes and Indulgent parenting styles are most consequential in terms of obesity risk. For many studies included in this review, parents less often fell into the category of authoritative, thus pointing to the importance in working with these populations to develop more effective and healthy feeding patterns
