Structure of the relationship between parents’ and children's food preferences and avoidances: An explorative study

The aims of the present research were to uncover the underlying structure of the relationship between parents’ and children's preferences and avoidances in the food domain, and to determine whether this structure revealed any differences as a function of children's age. Two hundred and eighty-two parent–child dyads (children aged 10–20) completed a self-administered questionnaire on eating attitudes and practices. The results led to a descriptive model of the connection between parents’ and children's food repertories, made of four overlap and four autonomy areas. This structure was then compared with the structure that emerged from random pairs of an adult and a child/adolescent. Our findings showed that parents’ repertory had an anchoring function in the formation of that of their children, not only in terms of imitation, but also in terms of influencing the direction of differentiation and innovation. As far as the second aim of our study is concerned, only two out of eight areas (that of parent preferences limitation, and that of child autonomous avoidances) differed in relation to the children's age. The theoretical and practical impact of these results is discussed.