Parent’s/Caregiver’s Relationship and the Impact on Nutrition

摘要

The social–emotional interactions between parent and child are critical to an adaptive eating pattern. A complete assessment of feeding and nutrition requires inquiry into the caregiver/parent–child relationship during eating. This article details the 6 areas of social functioning derived from the six functional emotional milestones of the DIR/Floortime (DIR = Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship) approach. When inquiry into these six areas is included in a comprehensive feeding assessment, there are direct implications for treatment planning and ultimately treatment effectiveness. These six areas are (1) the mood or emotional tone in the mealtime interaction; (2) pleasure in the introduction and exploration of new foods together with parents; (3) the parent’s ability to attune to child’s communicative attempts; (4) the parent’s ability to support the child’s drive to independence; (5) the parent’s ability to engage in play and conversation about feelings, imagination, and creative ideas; and (6) the parents’ ability to provide logical and accurate meanings to the child’s behavior and questions. By gaining a thorough assessment of the child’s interactions with their caregiver/parent, a clinician will be able to formulate intervention strategies that take advantage of the strengths in the relationship, and identify areas where they can support further developmental growth.