The mediating role of mothers' attitudes towards feeding in the relationship between parenting styles and the eating behaviors of elementary school students

Nutritional behaviors are important in children’s physical and mental health. The present research investigated the eating behaviors of children according to the variables of parenting style and mothers' attitude towards feeding. The statistical sample included 160 elementary school students and their mothers who were selected using a multi-stage cluster method. The research tools were as follows: the knowledge and attitude questionnaire of mothers towards child feeding, the children's eating behavior questionnaire and the revised family communication model tool. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the mediating role of the mediator variable. The results of the present study showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between the conversational orientation and the attitude of mothers towards children's feeding. And there was a negative and significant relationship between the conformity orientation and mothers' attitude towards children's feeding. On the other hand, a positive and significant relationship was obtained between the eating behavior variable and mothers' attitude towards children's feeding. It should also be mentioned that the fit indices of the model were also examined and favorable results were obtained.