Table 3 Eating and feeding behavior coding schemes for children over 12 months of age, and their families
Coding scheme name (if applicable) | Authors | Target measures | Coded behaviors or constructs | Coding scheme published | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The ABC Mealtime Coding System | Fiese et al., 2007 [29] | Dimensions of mealtime behavior | Action-oriented behaviors Behavior control behaviors Meal-oriented communication Positive communication Critical communication | No | Micro-systems coding scheme that captures detailed interactions of caregivers and children at mealtime. |
Behavior of Eating and Activity for Children’s Health Evaluation System (BEACHES) | McKenzie et al., 1991 [13] | Dimensions of children’s physical activity, eating behaviors and related environmental elements | Environment Physical location Activity level Eating Behavior Interactor Antecedents Prompted event Child response Consequences Events receiving consequences | No | Can be applied in many different environments. Codes antecedents as well as child eating (or physical activity) behavior changes (increase or decrease). Environmental variables contextualize behaviors. Original manuscript employed 60 min observations. Gives extensive information about the eating context, but offers limited descriptions of eating behaviors itself. |
Bob and Tom’s Method of Assessing Nutrition (BATMAN) | Klesges et al., 1983 [30] | Child eating behavior and related physical and social environment variables | Child’s eating environment Child behavior Family member interactions with child (encouragement, discouragement, modeling, prompting etc.) Child’s response to interaction | Yes | Original form uses partial interval time sampling – in 10 s windows the child’s behavior as well as the person interacting with the child and the manner of interaction are coded. Live coding is implemented. |
Dyadic Interaction Nomenclature for Eating (DINE) | Stark et al., 2000 [31] | Parent and child mealtime behaviors | Parent behaviors: Direct command, indirect command, coax, reinforce, parent talk, physical prompt, feed. Child behaviors: Non-compliance to direct commands, refuse/complaints about food, requests for food, child talk, away from table/food. Child eating | No | All behaviors are coded from video on an occurrence/nonoccurrence basis in 10 s intervals, with the exception of bites, which were counted per 10 s interval. |
Feeding Behavior Coding System | Hughes et al., 2007 [32] | Child care provider’s feeding behaviors | Nature of the feeding directive (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, uninvolved), the frequency of directive and the food group to which the directive was targets (fruit, vegetable, entree, starch). | No | 22-item checklist measure of capturing observed feeding behaviors among child care providers, developed from the Caregiver Feeding Styles Questionnaire [33]. |
Family Mealtime Q-Sort | Kiser et al., 2010 [34] | Domains of family mealtimes | Positive Tone Meaningful Conversation Clear Plan Disruptions Parenting Style Involvement | Yes | 54 item measure describing mealtime characteristics, occurrences and practices on a 9 point scale. |
Family Mealtime Coding System | Haycraft and Blisset, 2008 [5] | Parental feeding practices | Pressure to eat Physical prompt to eat Restriction of food intake Use of incentive/conditions | No | Based on subscales of the Child Feeding Questionnaire [35]. |
The Feeding Scale | Chatoor et al., 1997 [36] | Domains of dyadic feeding | Dyadic reciprocity Dyadic conflict Talk and distraction Struggle for control Maternal non-contingency | No | Developed to evaluate feeding disorders in infants, has been validated in children up to 3 years old. |
Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scale | Melby et al., 1998 [37] | Dyadic, family-level interpersonal and dynamics | Interpersonal and family-level (11 domains) and parent-level dynamics (10 domains) | Yes | Similar to the McMaster Mealtime Interaction Coding System (MICS) in that this coding scheme captures macro-level interpersonal family dynamics are coded. Can be applied to a mealtime context. [38] |
McMaster Mealtime Interaction Coding System (MICS) | Dickstein et al., 1994 [39] | Family functioning at mealtime. | Task accomplishment Communication Affective interaction Interpersonal involvement Behavior control Roles Overall family functioning | No | Family mealtime observed in the home environment. Each dimension scored on a 7-point scale, from 1 “very healthy” to 7 “unhealthy”. Widely used, with good validity. Focus is more on family dynamics rather than food consumption. |
Mealtime Observation Form | Benson and Munoz, 2004 [40] | Structural characteristics of a meal | Length of meal Number of adult and children present How the meal is served Where the meal takes place How many times the child and parent leave the table Types of foods served Is TV/radio/music on/off Does child get second helpings Beverage of child Is dessert served Parents response to child’s picky eating behavior | No | Widely used form in child eating and feeding studies [41,42,43]. Straightforward coding scheme that is likely easy to apply reliably. |
Mealtime Observation Schedule (MOS) | Parental feeding practices and children’s problem and appropriate feeding behaviors | 17 categories of child-feeding behaviors (11 categories of disruptive mealtime behavior and 6 categories of appropriate mealtime behavior) 14 categories of parent behavior (aversive behavior and 8 categories of non-aversive behavior. | Partial | Derived from the Family Observation Schedule [46]. Coded in 10 s time blocks during a 20-min observation period. Measures derived from the MOS include % of overall melt during which particular behaviors are exhibited (i.e. % of intervals with a disruptive feeding behavior present). | |
Parent Modeling of Eating Behaviors (PARM-O) | Palfreyman, Haycraft, Meyer, 2015 [8] | Parental role modeling of eating behaviors | Verbal modeling Behavioral Modelling Unintentional Modeling | No | Developed along with the self-report questionnaire version for parent’s report of their role modeling. |
Responsiveness to Child Feeding Cues Scale | Hodges et al. [47] | Maternal responsiveness to child feeding cues | Caregiver general responsiveness during feeding Child feeding cues Caregiver responsiveness to child feeding cues | Partial | Detailed coding scheme that allows for the micro and global analyses of dyadic feeding interaction from early infancy to toddlerhood. Codes child’s hunger and fullness cues separately from caregiver’s responsiveness to those cues. Child feeding cues are additionally divided into Early, Active and Late cues. This coding scheme would likely require a graduate level coder to apply given its detail. |
Revised BATMAN | Koivisto et al., 1994 [48] | Child eating behavior and related physical and social environment variables | Additional child behavior categories: Positive food statements Negative food statements Neutral food statements Statements from children about their own eating Additional parent behavior categories: Positive statements about food Negative statements about food Neutral statements about food General nonfood statements Positive statements about child eating | Yes | A revised version of the BATMAN for video recording, with additional categories added for both child and parent behaviors. |
– | Cooke et al., 1997 [49] | Temporal patterns of food intake | Food types consumed throughout a meal | No | Laboratory meal protocol. Videos coded in 10 s intervals for foods consumed throughout the meal under two conditions to assess temporal patterns of intake in subjects with eating disorders. |
– | Cousins et al., 1990 [50] | Characteristics of food served and consumed at mealtime. | Foods served during meal Method of preparation Number of helpings Estimated portion sizes Amount food eaten | No | Live coding employed to measure characteristics of food served and eaten at a mealtime. Form used to count and record events around food preparation and consumption. Could be applied to video recorded eating interactions if camera angle captured preparation, serving and consumption. |
– | Cousins et al., 1990 [50] | Food related interactions between parent and child | For each interaction the following are coded: 1) Time it occurred 2) Persons involved 3) Parental control strategies 4) Child’s response | No | Adapted from prior works [51, 52] for mealtime interactions. Originally employed using live coding. Captures dyadic interactions around food (parent action and child response), but does not capture quality of interaction. |
– | Fisher et al., 2013 [53] | Self-served portion size and energy intake in a controlled experimental setting | Number of entrée spoonfuls served Self-served portion size (g) | No | Controlled laboratory setting where pasta was served. Systematically varied the amount available for self-serving and size of serving spoon. Number of spoonfuls served were recorded. Simple and straightforward coding scheme. |
– | Iannotti, O’Brien and Spillman, 1994 [54] | Encouragement and discouragements of child eating | Initiator of interaction The food involved If the interaction was to encourage, discourage or exchange the particular food The structure of the interaction Whether a nutritional or other rationale was used to induce compliance Child’s response to the statement | No | Captures the social influences on a child’s eating behaviors including the food involved, and the type of command. This coding scheme is unique in that it captures whether a caregiver gives a nutritional rationale for the command. Also captures child’s response. Unclear if this coding scheme is would be easily applied as the definitions of the codes are not widely available, however the authors suspect that it might be quite nuanced. |
– | Pesch et al., 2016 [55] | Home mealtime practices | Child eating at a kitchen/dining room Table (Y vs N) TV audible (Y vs N) Mother sits at the table to eat or drink during the meal (Y vs N) | No | Simple dichotomous variables capturing limited mealtime practices. |
– | Pesch et al., 2016 [56] | Affective tone of mother’s statements to restrict child eating | Statements categorized as having positive or negative affect | No | Characterizes mother’s tone and affect around restrictive feeding interactions. Descriptions of tonality may be difficult to interpret and apply reliably. |
– | Power et al., 2015 [57] | Maternal verbalization and non-verbal behavior during mealtime | Maternal responsive and non-responsive feeding practices. | No | Event coding scheme developed from an adaptation of prior work [51, 58]. |