Perfection at the table: Maternal perfectionism, feeding anxiety, and preschoolers' eating behaviors

Feeding problems such as food avoidance and food neophobia are relatively common, affecting up to half of typically developing children. These behaviors have complex determinants, but parental psychological factors are particularly influential. This study examined the role of maternal perfectionism and maternal feeding anxiety in relation with feeding difficulties (i.e., food neophobia, children's eating behaviors, and restricted food acceptance) using both subjective reports and an objective checklist of accepted foods. The sample included 147 Romanian mothers of preschool children, aged 3 to 6 years ( M = 3.89, SD = 1.03), who completed surveys about themselves and their children ( N boy s = 80; N girls = 67). The survey questions examined maternal levels of perfectionism, mothers' emotions, and expectations during feeding time. Mothers also evaluated their children's eating habits including their reaction to new foods, their general appetite and eating behaviors, as well as any food preferences (vegetables, fruits, cereal, dairy, and meats). Analyses revealed two distinct patterns of association: perfectionism was indirectly linked to greater food avoidance, neophobia, and restricted preferences via higher maternal feeding anxiety, but directly associated with broader food acceptance across several categories (vegetables, fruits, cereals, dairy). In line with the adaptive vs. maladaptive perfectionism framework, these findings suggest that perfectionism may be associated with feeding difficulties in different ways, underscoring the need to address parental emotional factors in interventions aiming to promote healthier, more positive eating habits in children.