Skip to main content

Table 5 Items included in the Item bank by domains of food parenting practices and constructs showing the full list of items included as well as listing the results of the efficiency analyses and items retained in the short form

From: Calibration of the food parenting practice (FPP) item bank: tools for improving the measurement of food parenting practices of parents of 5–12-year-old children

Constructs

(IRM reliability)

Items

Short form

AUTONOMY PROMOTION FOOD PARENTING DOMAIN

 

Child involvement

4 items

(.87)

In the past MONTH, how often did you… (answer for yourself only) (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always)

 

1

Have your child help prepare dinner meals

2

Have your child help you prepare vegetable dishes

3

Give your child a choice of vegetables to eat at dinner

4

Ask your child’s opinion about what to make for meals

Autonomy support

14 items

(.93)a

5

Serve healthy foods such as vegetables in a way your child likes to get your child to eat them

 

8

Help your child try a NEW vegetable or food by telling him or her that you like it and that he or she might like it also

9

Say something nice to your child for tasting a NEW vegetable or food

 

10

Tell your child that colorful vegetables such as dark green, red, orange and purple vegetables are healthier than potatoes and corn

 

11

Read food labels with your child to help him or her choose healthier food or drinks

 

12

Explain that eating healthy food will give your child more energy

13

Help your child eat or taste a vegetable by explaining how good it is for his or her health

14

Tell your child that eating healthier food such as vegetables will help your child do better in school

 

16

Make your child think about whether he or she is full to teach your child to stop eating when full

 

17

Tell your child ideas on how he or she can make healthier food choices like eating more fruit or vegetables

18

Tell your child reasons for the rules you make about food and the need to eat vegetables

20

Tell your child that sweet or salty treats should only be eaten sometimes

 

21

Teach your child to eat food from all the food groups

 

22

Help your child set goals to eat more vegetables or other healthier food

 

CONTROL FOOD PARENTING DOMAIN

 

Restriction for weight

4 items (.79)

To promote a healthy weight for your child, in the past month did you… (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always)

 

1

Keep your child away from specific sweet or salty treats (food or drinks)

2

Keep a record of how much your child eats

3

Not allow your child from taking second helpings at dinner

5

Talk to your child about losing weight?

Coercive control

23 items

(.96)a

In the past MONTH, how often did you… (Answer for yourself only) (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always)

 

6

Give your child a sweet or salty treat to make your child feel better when your child is hurt

7

Offer a sweet or salty treat when your child is worried or stressed to make your child feel better

8

Offer a sweet or salty treat to calm your child down

9

Give your child a sweet or salty treat to keep your child busy when you talking to another person or doing chores

10

Give your child a sweet or salty treat to keep your child busy when he or she is bored, even if he or she is not hungry

 

11

Tell your child he or she will get dessert only if he or she tastes the vegetables you served

 

12

Promise your child dessert if he or she finishes their meal

 

13

Send your child to his or her room if they do not finish their meal

 

14

Reduce TV or videogame time if your child does not finish his or her meal

 

15

Reward your child with a sweet or salty treat for good behaviour

 

16

Take away dessert as punishment for bad behaviour

 

17

Offer your child a sweet or salty treat to make your child do something he or she does not want to do

18

Take away TV or videogame time if your child does not eat the vegetables you served

 

19

Send your child to his or her room if your child refuses to eat the vegetables you served

 

20

Tell your child they will be punished if he or she eats a sweet or salty food or drink without asking you

 

25

Make your child stay at the table until all the food on his or her plate is eaten

 

26

Make your child eat more even if he or she says “I am full”

 

30

Make sure your child eats all his or her vegetables first at dinner time

 

32

You force your child to eat some vegetables every day

 

34

Hide vegetables in the food you serve as a way to get your child to eat more vegetables

 

35

Make your child feel bad about what he or she eats in order to get your child to eat healthier

 

36

Not allow your child to have sweet or salty treat at parties

 

37

Make your child eat a lighter meal, If your child ate more than usual at the earlier meal

 

STRUCTURE FOOD PARENTING DOMAIN

 

Nondirective

Support

8 items

(.88)a

In the past MONTH, how often did you… (Answer for yourself only) (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always)

 

1

Eat or drink a healthy snack just because your child was around

 

3

Eat healthy portions while in front of your child (for example-take a smaller portion)

 

5

Show how much you enjoy eating vegetables while eating with your child

 

7

Encourage your child to eat the food as it is served, without picking the vegetables out

8

Encourage your child to eat more at a meal if they don’t want to eat what is served but say they are not full

9

Try to get your child to take a few more bites of their vegetables, without forcing them

10

Encourage your child to eat more at dinner without pressuring him or her, if you feel your child has not eaten enough that day

11

Try to get your child to taste a new vegetable (but not eat all of it) even if your child thinks he or she may not like it

Provide healthy eating opportunities

8 items

(.87)a

12

Prepare your family’s meals mostly from scratch

 

14

Serve vegetables your child likes with meals

15

Serve colourful vegetables (dark green, red, orange or purple vegetables) with meals

22

Serve a vegetable multiple times even if your child has not liked it in the past

 

23

Serve your child at least 2 different vegetables (excluding potatoes or fries) at dinner meals

24

Serve your child at least 5 different types of vegetables in a week?

25

Serve at least 5 different fruit or berries (fresh or frozen) to your child in a week

26

How much do you agree with this statement: I have consistently served a variety of vegetables to my child since he or she was 3 years old. (Strongly agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly disagree)

 

Rules and limits

9 items

(.88)a

28

You usually know how many sweet or salty treats your child eats or drinks at home

29

You limit how often your child eats/drinks sweet or salty treats (i.e. chips, desserts, sugary drinks)

31

You do not let your child drink soda or sugary drinks (e.g., sports drinks or fruit drinks)

 

33

You limit the portion size of sweet or salty treats your child eats

34

You expect your child to eat the foods that you serve or not eat at all

 

35

If your child eats a sweet or salty treat, you expect the next snack to be healthy (e.g. to be a fruit)

36

You expect your child to drink mostly water or milk with meals

 

37

You ask those who help take care of your child to limit the amount of sweet or salty treats they give to your child

 

39

You expect your child to ask for permission before he or she eats a sweet or salty treat or a sugary drink

Redirection

2 items

(.67)

41

Encourage your child to only take a small portion, when your child asks for a less healthy treat

44

Talk about food or drink options with your child and come to an agreement you are both happy with

Meal routines

4 items

(.78)

47

Make your child eat dinner meals at the table

50

Eat dinner together as a family (whole family)

52

NOT allow your child to play, talk or text on the phone while eating dinner

53

NOT allow your child to watch TV while eating dinner

Covert control

4 items

(.81)

58

Keep sweet and salty treats out of your child’s reach

59

Hide soda and sugary drinks in places where your child could not find them

61

Throw away left over sweet or salty treats to discourage your child from eating them

62

Not bring soda or sweet drinks into your home

Accommodating the child

5 items

(.82)

63

Eat out at restaurants or get take-out food for meals with your child

65

Give in and let your child have dessert, after you told him or her “no”

67

Allow your child to skip meals (e.g., breakfast or lunch)

69

Make only the foods your child asks for meals

70

Buy your child a sweet or salty treat as a way to fill him or her up when you are on the go

  1. IRM reliability = Empirical reliability computed from Item Response Modeling (IRM) which takes into account the ordinal nature of the data
  2. aThe IRM reliability for the short form is fixed at .80 for these constructs