Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78:215–20. Printed in USA. © 2003 American Society for Clinical Nutrition 215 Learning to overeat: maternal use of restrictive feeding practices promotes girls ’ eating in the absence of hunger1–3

Background: Experimental findings causally link restrictive child-feeding practices to overeating in children. However, longi-tudinal data are needed to determine the extent to which restrictive feeding practices promote overeating. Objectives: Our objectives were to determine whether restrictive feeding practices foster girls ’ eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) and whether girls ’ weight status moderates the effects of restrictive feeding practices. Design: Longitudinal data were used to create a study design fea-turing 2 maternal restriction factors (low and high), 2 weight-status factors (nonoverweight and overweight), and 3 time factors (ages 5, 7, and 9 y). Results: Mean EAH increased significantly (P < 0.0001) from 5 to 9 y of age. Higher levels of restriction at 5 y of age predicted higher EAH at 7 y of age (P < 0.001) and at 9 y of age (P < 0.01). Girls who were already overweight at 5 y of age and who received higher levels of restriction had the highest EAH scores at 9 y of age (P < 0.05) and the greatest increases in EAH from 5 to 9 y of age (P < 0.01). Conclusions: The developmental increase in EAH from 5 to 9 y of age may be especially problematic in obesigenic environments. These longitudinal data provide evidence that maternal restriction can promote overeating. Girls who are already overweight at 5 y of age may be genetically predisposed to be especially responsive to environmental cues. These findings are not expected to be gen-eralized to boys or to other racial and ethnic groups. Am