Parent Feeding Practices and Child Overweight

The dramatic and pervasive increase in childhood overweight in the United States represents a daunting public health concern of impressive magnitude and scope. Currently 10% of 2-to 5-yearold children in the United States and 15% of children ages 6 to 19 years are overweight, representing a doubling over the past 30 years (Collins, Johnson, & Krebs, 2004; Hedley et al., 2004). This trend is especially challenging given the high likelihood of childhood overweight persisting into adulthood and the associated medical, psychological, social, and economic implications (Guo & Chumlea, 1999; Must et al., 1999). In one study, infants who were overweight during the rst year of life (greater than the 95th percentile of weight for length) were three times more likely to be overweight during the preschool years compared to children who were not overweight as infants (Mei, Grummer-Strwan, & Scanlon, 2003). A child who is overweight at 3 to 6 years of age has a 50% chance of being an obese adult, and the risk increases to 80% if a child remains overweight at age 15 to 17 years (Fox, Pac, Devaney, & Jankowski, 2004; Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, & Dietz, 1997).