Paternal Influence on Child Feeding Practices and Obesity Prevention

Fathers play an increasingly recognised role in shaping children’s dietary habits and risk of obesity through direct feeding interactions, role-modelling and the structuring of mealtimes. Paternal feeding practices range from supportive, responsive approaches—where fathers attend to children’s hunger and satiety cues—to more controlling behaviours such as pressure to eat or restriction of certain foods. Fathers’ own eating patterns, physical activity and attitudes towards food profoundly influence the home food environment, co-parenting dynamics and family routines, thereby affecting children’s long-term energy balance and self-regulation.

Evidence highlights that paternal engagement is moderated by self-efficacy, access to nutrition information and wider socioeconomic factors including food security and household chaos. Fathers may experience barriers such as time constraints, cultural expectations and a lack of tailored resources, which can limit their capacity to adopt responsive feeding practices. Conversely, when supported by clear guidance, peer networks or digital tools, fathers can successfully promote healthy eating, encourage balanced diets and model positive behaviours, contributing to obesity prevention at the family and community levels.

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Paternal Influence on Child Feeding Practices and Obesity Prevention publication trend

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Technical terms

Responsive feeding: The practice of recognising and appropriately responding to a child’s hunger and fullness cues to support healthy self-regulation of food intake.

Coercive control: Feeding strategies that involve pressure, restriction or the use of food to modify behaviour, often undermining a child’s autonomy.

Self-efficacy: A parent’s belief in their own ability to carry out specific feeding or activity-related behaviours effectively.

Food insecurity: Limited or uncertain access to adequate, nutritious food, which can lead to compensatory or controlling feeding practices.

Home food environment: The availability, accessibility and structuring of foods and mealtimes within the household that shape children’s eating opportunities and preferences.

References

1. Fathers’ perceived role, self-efficacy and support needs in promoting positive nutrition and physical activity in the first 2000 days of life: a mixed methods study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (2024).
2. Dads at Mealtimes: Associations between Food Security, Household and Work Chaos, and Paternal Feeding Practices among Australian Fathers Living with Disadvantage. Nutrients (2024).
3. Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies to explore fathers’ perspectives of their influence on children’s obesity-related health behaviors. BMC Nursing (2024).