Table 1.

Illustrative example quotes for themes and sub-themes

Box 1: Strategies to Promote Intake

A) Food Preparation I used to chop all the fruit up and they used to pretend they were in their nursery or whatever and pass it round and they love it! (I5) They have porridge for breakfast, and normally I stir in a bit of dried fruit, raisins and things…it encourages them to eat the porridge… (I11) I make toast but not crunchy, so warm bread. (D5)

B) Food Presentation You have to pretend that the anmials are coming to eat the food and sometimes he can eat a bit more that way…with A. you have to pretend you’re not looking and someone’s come and eaten her food for her. (I1) J’s mouth was a gate and I had to get the yogurt in before the gate shut. (D23) I made the food into pictures on her plate. She ate well and was persuaded to sample one or two new things: baby spinach leaves, red pepper and a sliver of vegetable tart. (D2)

C) Verbal Encouragement He will try and leave the table before he’s finished and I will have to say no come on finish this. (I10) I’ve said to her…that it’s very important that she eats certain things to have healthy bones. (I4) J said “I don’t like cheese” but I told him it was good for him. So he carried on eating it. (D23)

D) Physical Encouragement I’ll put the food on his fork and lay it back down on this plate so he hasn’t got that to do. (I2) …or I start spoon-feeding her. Um she quite likes that! She eats tonnes if I feed her, funny that! (I6) She…left the beans saying she didn’t like them. I fed her them and that way she ate them without a fuss. (D5)

E) Repetition and Exposure They just both refused…they weren’t going to eat a thing and I just ignored it and then they got over it and just carried on eating. (I5) If I ever found that she wouldn’t eat something, first of all, I would never give up on that, I would try again a few days later. (I9) The older two won’t eat Brussels sprouts but I normally just put a couple on there. And eventually they will try them and like them. I think it’s just the learning isn’t it? (I13)

F) Structuring Food Environment The boys sit down every night together and I do try and sit down with them--but if I can’t do that then I won’t let the others leave the table until he’s finished, because he won’t his dinner otherwise. (I2) That’s why I don’t have the telly on at dinner-times…because it’ll get cold and he won’t eat it. (I2) I like to sit with them even though I’m not eating…if I ever walk off and do washing up or something, I. will start mucking about. (I5)

Box 2: Motivations for Promoting Intake

A) Practical [I feed him breakfast] because otherwise he won’t eat anything at that time in the morning and it does worry me if he went to school without eating anything. (I7) I do that once in a while - I feed them to make sure, so that I can be happy that they’ve eaten, they’re not going out without no food. (I8) I offered…more pasta as I didn’t want her to say she was hungry later at bedtime. (D21)

B) Health/Balance/Variety I’ve said to her in the past I suppose that it’s very important that she eats certain things to have healthy bones. (I3) I would like them to eat more varied food. (I3) It’s that critical age…when you really want them to eat as well because they’re growing up. (I5)

C) Weight When my daughter was little she was a very very fussy eater, she wouldn’t eat, and she was very slim and I wanted her to put a little bit of meat on her bones!… I’m happy for her to eat anything she can eat to make her put on some weight! (I8) My younger boy he was underweight, he has sickle cell disease so he was underweight so I get very worried if he doesn’t eat as well and any time he eats I’m very happy, I let him eat anything he wants. (I8)

Box 3: Strategies to Restrict Intake

A) Limiting Availability/Accessibility I put crisps in the cupboard where they can’t reach! (I8) D. is aware what’s in the house, but she’s not allowed to just take something. (I1) Rather than keeping the packet on the table I just give him whatever I think he should have. (I1) Sweets are restricted to the afternoon; they can only have yogurt or fruit after dinner. (I4) I will limit them to buying one or two things they want [from the supermarket] at Christmas. (I8) I got an advent calendar with the smallest chocolates possible! (I5)

B) Verbal Discouragement I said to him you’re being greedy – don’t put too much on your plate. (I5) He does open the fridge and look. And if he sees something he wants, I’ll say if he can or can’t (I7) C. asked for a biscuit but I said no…I said that he’d had a good dinner today plus sweets so he really didn’t need anything more. (D19)

C) Bargaining/Negotiation They accept it. I think I’ve always been like that really with them, so they just go for something else. I say, “Go on, pick something else!’ (I5) A lot of times she’ll ask for something sweet like “Can I have a biscuit?” and I’ll say, “No, but you can have a yoghurt or an apple or a banana,” and she’s just as happy with that. (I14) I told her that a sandwich with marmalade is not possible. I offered a banana or a sandwich with cream cheese. (D10)

Box 4: Motivations for Restricting Intake

A) Practical You’ve really got to be on top of him every morning to get him out the door. He’s so “Oh in a minute’ so to have that on top of his milk, no I wouldn’t give it to him. (I2) If I’ve got an extra 5 or 10 minutes then I’ll say do you want a boiled egg. If we’re a bit more rushed, we’ll have cereal and some bread…it depends if we have the time. (I1) We’ve got a busy weekend coming up and they’re gonna be starving and I try to avoid cooking something that I’m really unsure whether they’re going to take, or when I know we’ve got a busy time coming up, or when I know I’m going to want them to eat some sort of substantial dinner. (I4) I do find with C. that if I give him a biscuit or a bag of crisps before dinner he won’t eat his dinner… So I tend to not give him anything. (I2)

B) Health/Balance/Variety He wouldn’t be able to have sweets or a cake or biscuit, because I don’t like him to have too many sweet things really. Because of his teeth I suppose. (I10) She doesn’t get to choose in that sense, no, because I don’t want her eating just things like Coco-pops and stuff like that, general purpose rubbish. (I6) I don’t really like them eating too much processed stuff with a load of preservatives. (I4)

D) Cost They’re always asking “Can we have this, can we have that?”…They might look at a particular yogurt which I think is too expensive and I’ll say “No you’re not having that, it’s 60p for a yoghurt, choose something else.” (I2)

E) Personal beliefs I don’t like her having cold food in the winter. (I3) Well milk and oranges don’t normally sit well together do they? You don’t tend to give them at the same time. (I2) I have to take away the houmous or he would put the houmous on the plate and the rice on the plate and he would mix it in! (I7)

Box 5: Instrumental Feeding

A) Means-end-feeding She then asked for a chocolate from the Christmas tree. I said she could have one if she ate a satsuma first, which she did. (D21) Because she’d eaten all [of her food], I said do you want some ice-cream. (I14) If he tells me half an hour or an hour after that he’s hungry and “Can I have a biscuit?” or “Can I have a bag of crisps?” or something then he won’t get them because he hasn’t eaten his breakfast. (I2) I felt it was hard on S. to be dragged round on my errands, and that a couple of small sweets after a good breakfast wouldn’t hurt. (D2) They’re not going to open their presents until they’ve had some breakfast. (I2)

B) Emotional Feeding One tiny chocolate. J. was hungry and had hurt his eyes. I was cooking for six and the chocolate kept him quiet. (D5) H.’s brother…fell over and got very upset. To distract him, I said he could open his [chocolate] advent calendar. (D21) We were meeting friends in a pub. The children were getting bored and we bought crisps to calm things down. (D21) The treat is a chocolate bar and a packet of crisps just for something more interesting to keep her occupied while I shopped I suppose (I13)

C) Food to Please Well they like the fromage frais so these ones come with no additives and no nothing although to be honest it’s not why they’re bought, it’s cos they like the taste. (I3) I’m if it’s not a sandwich it’ll be a cake or something like that. Or just a little treat of some sort. (I5) At night-time they have a sandwich and normally they have like crisps and that down the Rugby club which is a bit of a treat. (D4)

D) Food to Avoid Food-related Conflict There’s normally a big tantrum if we can’t have what we’ve asked for regardless of whether we’ve eaten or not. I mean if she’s asked for something and she hasn’t eaten and I know she might be hungry then fine, I would never stop her from eating and going hungry. But eating for the sake of eating I tend to allow, as probably lots of mothers do, for an easier life. (I9) I’m not going to start arguing because … I don’t want to make him unhappy saying he can’t have things and other children can, I don’t think it would be very nice. It’s not worth fighting it is it, it’s one time of the year and that’s it! (I7) I wanted to avoid a tantrum if I had taken ‘her’ sweets from them. (D4)

Box 6: Meal-time Rules

[We eat dinner] no later than 6 really. I try not to feed them after 6 o’clock because it’s a bit too late then really. (I5) On a weekend we all sit down and have our breakfast each Saturday and Sunday. And you know we’ll have a proper dinner together on the Sunday always. (I5) Even just manners wise, if we got out anywhere then we don’t leave the table until other people have finished. (I2)

Box 7: Child Involvement

I might say to her [while shopping] what sort of crisps do you like? Or what type of fruit. She tends to have a choice of what special treat, what packet of cakes she would like. (I9) So we have the basic ones but they get a choice, they usually have a Cookie Crisp or they have like Rice Krispies or Coco Pops. (I2) R. likes making little cakes and jellies and things and she’d made some jelly frogs and we put some cubes of pineapple into that and some cake and things so it wasn’t just pure jelly. (I11)

Box 8: Flexibility

We’re not as strict … on a Friday. On a Friday [we might eat] a lot later and we’ll have a takeaway and it could be 8 o’clock at night. (I2) Obviously when there’s guests here and there’s other kids eating [chocolate bars] I don’t say to her Oh no you can’t have nothing because you’ve had your quota for the day’. She will be allowed to eat a bit more…but it’s only for one day. (I3) I used to worry about it when they were younger but I’m not too worried now. I mean the parties I used to think oh god they’re eating so much rubbish, and they’re not going to have their dinners. But to be honest it don’t bother me now, I don’t know why [referencing Christmas]. (I5).

Box 9: Parental Engagement with Children’s Eating Behavior

A) Awareness of Child’s Eating Behavior and Weight I feel C. is more of a challenge with his food than the others were. (I2) He’s a lot less fussy than A. Well no that’s not really fair, she’s a more predictable eater whereas J. will always have pickle and salad cream with his lunch. (I1) I mean one thing I could say is probably you don’t need to know this but I found with both of them when they got to two [years old], they really didn’t want to eat. (I5)

B) Responsiveness to Child’s Eating Behaviors and Weight I keep an eye on what she actually is eating because I’m sure if I put…a big tin of Quality Street out in front of her, she’d quite happily demolish as many as possible. (I3) If you gave her the coke she would drink it…[She has coke] about once a week…I keep it to that because she would probably sit there and drink 2 liters if I let him. (I3) It’s only a packet (of crisps) a day because if I did let him he will have three or four packets a day, so I always put it in a cupboard where they can’t reach it. (I8) If I were to leave the packet there, there’d be tears so what I usually do is open a packet and put some in a bowl when I make his lunch or even when he’s sat up at the table, and it doesn’t really dawn on him that it’s not a whole packet. Rather than keeping the packet on the table, I just give him whatever I think he should have. (I1) With C., it’s always pushing him that much further – “Come on, you can do three more mouthfuls.” And he will do it. It’s just laziness – it’s a chore to him to be eating. (I2) The only thing I can do really is to say, “Come on, S, try and eat up’&…and I do tend to do that quite a lot. Because otherwise, he wouldn’t eat anything. (I7)