Division of Responsibility in Child Feeding and Eating Competence among Brazilian Caregivers

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to assess Brazilian child caregivers’ eating competence (EC) and their adherence to the division of responsibility (sDOR) in child feeding. The research had national coverage in all Brazilian regions. The sample comprised 549 caregivers of Brazilian children (24 up to 72 months) recruited by social media (snowball method). Data on sDOR and EC were collected using the sDOR.2-6yTM Portuguese—Brazil (sDOR.2-6y-BR) and ecSI2.0TMBR, both instruments validated to the Brazilian population. The scores of the sDOR.2-6y-BR were described in terms of means, standard deviations (SD), medians, and interquartile range. Student’s t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s post hoc tests were used to compare the scores of sDOR.2-6y-BR and ecSI2.0TMBR with interest variables. The association between the sDOR.2-6y-BR and ecSI2.0TMBR scores was verified by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Most of the participants were female (n = 88.7%), 37.8 ± 5.1 y/o, had a high schooling level (70.31%), and high monthly income (more than 15 minimum wages—MW) (31.69%). The children for whom the participants were responsible were mostly girls (53.19%), with an average age of 3.6 ± 1.3 y/o. The instrument presented good responsiveness (floor and ceiling effects = 0%). Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.268. There was no statistical difference in sDOR.2-6y-BR scores between caregiver’s gender, age, level of education, number of people living in the household, or by gender or age of the child. Caregivers who reported (n = 100) that their children had some medical diagnosis (e.g., food allergy, autism, or Down syndrome) had lower sDOR adherence scores than caregivers who indicated their children had no medical diagnosis (p = 0.031). There was no statistical difference in ecSI2.0TMBR scores between the categories of caregiver’s gender, age, occupancy, and child’s gender and age. Caregivers with income higher than 10 MW, living in houses with more than 3 people, and with graduate schooling showed higher EC scores. Caregivers considered competent eaters by ecSI2.0TMBR scores differed only for educational level, which was more frequent among graduate participants. The total EC score was positively associated with total and mealtime structure (D1), how food is available to the child (D3), and the parent gives respect to the child’s autonomy in eating (D4) sDOR.2-6yTM domains. There was a negative association with the what is available to the child (D2) sDOR.2-6yTM domain. In general, the sDOR.2-6y-BR had a positive association with the ecSI2.0TMBR in all domains and total, with a low but significant correlation. This study enables the investigation of the division of responsibility in feeding and EC of a sample of caregivers of children in Brazil. This is the first study to apply the translated and validated version of the sDOR.2-6y-BR and showed good results, where competent eaters’ caregivers adhere more to the principles of sDOR.