Sense of coherence, parenting stress and child feeding practices: systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Mothers with a low sense of coherence make fewer healthy eating decisions, present greater parenting stress and a greater frequency of coercive feeding practices, associated with a higher risk of overweight-obesity in pre-school children. Objective: To review and analyze published studies on the relationship of sense of coherence, parenting stress, and infant feeding practices among mothers of preschool children. Methodology: A systematic review of 10 studies published between 2016 and 2021 located in PubMed, Ebsco host, Springer link, Elsevier, and Google Academic databases was performed. The following descriptors were used: sense of coherence, parenting stress, child feeding practices, feeding behavior. Selection criteria used: articles with correlational, cross-sectional, longitudinal, systematic review and meta-analysis design based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Results: 60% of the studies evaluated parenting stress and child feeding practices and child feeding practices and child body mass index, 20% of the studies evaluated sense of coherence and healthy behaviors and 20% evaluated sense of coherence and child feeding practices and parenting stress respectively. Sense of coherence and parenting stress were found to be predictors of coercive child feeding practices associated with obesity in preschool children. Conclusions: Sense of coherence and parenting stress are predictors of coercive child feeding practices. Studies are suggested to evaluate the association of the three variables, and to evaluate the mediating effect of parenting stress on the sense of coherence and child feeding practices.