The FEED study will focus on maternal feeding styles and practices. Feeding styles refers to the attitudes, emotional climate, and quality of the interaction that parents maintain with their child during feeding. Feeding practices refer to specific strategies that parents use to feed their children. Research studies have shown that feeding styles and practices can interact to influence a child’s food preferences, dietary intake and weight status. Less is known about how feeding styles and practices track in early life. This research study will investigate these relationships and look at the relationship between feeding and infant adiposity.
Inclusion Criteria
- Have a singleton pregnancy
- Fetus without a known anomaly,
- ·over the age of 18 years (upper limit 49 years of age)
Exclusion Criteria
- Non-pregnant people
- fetus with a known anomaly
- Non-English speakers
Study Requirements
The research will take place over three visits (timepoints): during the 3rdtrimester (e.g. 32-40-weeks gestation), within 72 hours of birth, and three months postpartum. Research staff from Tufts Medical Center and the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University will lead all study procedures. All procedures will be solely for the research study and not part of your usual standard care. We will try to schedule your study visits around times that you may already plan to visit Tufts Medical Center for your standard care, and all surveys will be conducted remotely to minimize hospital visits and person-to-person contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. All surveys will be self-administered using a special link with the exception of the dietary intake survey, which will be conducted via phone or video call by a trained research staff member.
