Maternal Feeding practices appear to influence children's eating habits and thereby children's weight. Maternal obesity is one of the greatest risk factors for a child's development of obesity. Researchers have proposed a number of explanations to account for this strong link. Association between child's and mother's weight may be explained through a shared genetic predisposition to a certain body structure or eating style, hormonal differences transmitted during pregnancy, or modeling of eating behavior.

Additionally, many propose that mothers have a direct influence on their children's eating habits through their feeding practices. Mothers are typically the primary caregivers and have traditionally assumed the greatest responsibility for feeding of a child. Thus, it would appear that they, more than any other person, would have a direct influence on a child's diet. This assumption is suggested by the fact that most studies on the association between parental feeding style and children's eating behavior and/or weight have been conducted solely or primarily on mother-child pairs.

Mothers first assume responsibility for the feeding of their child during pregnancy. Maternal intake directly affects the nutrition received by the fetus in utero. Studies have demonstrated that a mother's intake during this time may have long-lasting effects. For instance, children are more likely to be accepting of a flavor if the mother had consumed foods and/or drinks of this flavor during pregnancy. The assumption is that the flavor and/or smell of the mother's diet is transmitted a child. Research has in fact demonstrated that the smell of some foods, such as garlic, can be detected in the amniotic fluid.

During infancy, the mother typically controls the majority, if not all, of the feeding experiences, particularly if a child is breastfed. A number of studies have investigated the effect of breastfeeding versus bottlefeeding. While the research is somewhat mixed, it does seem to suggest that breastfeeding provides at least a modest degree of protection against childhood overweight. Studies indicate that breast- and bottlefed infants are born at similar weights; however, bottle-fed infants tend to gain more weight throughout early childhood. As a result, research demonstrated that around age 5, bottle-fed children present with significantly higher body mass index (BMI), adiposity, and prevalence of overweight.

There may be a number of explanations for this phenomenon. Mothers who breast-feed may be more health conscious and therefore more likely to promote healthy eating behavior in children. Breastfeeding may transmit certain hormones or macronutrients which confer protection against the development of obesity. Further, breastfeeding may allow a child to respond to his or her own hunger and satiety cues in order to regulate energy intake. Bottle-feeding is generally more controlled by the mother and influenced more by external cues (i.e., the amount of formula in the bottle), which may promote eating past the point of satiety. Children who are breastfed also tend to show greater preference for flavors they have been exposed to through their mother's diet while breast-feeding and are more accepting of a range of novel flavors later in childhood.

A few studies have examined maternal feeding patterns in relation to disordered eating in infancy. Mothers of children with severe eating problems during infancy tend to display greater negativity and less responsiveness toward the child while feeding or playing with the child.

Several maternal feeding patterns later in childhood have been linked to children's patterns of eating and weight. One feeding practice that has received much attention is the mother's restriction of a child's food intake. Children of mothers who restrict food intake display poorer caloric regulation skills, more eating in the absence of hunger, and increased intake of restricted foods when restrictions are removed. These children tend to gain more weight over time than those whose mothers do not practice restrictive feeding habits. The relationship between restrictive feeding practices and eating behavior and weight appears to be strongest between mothers and daughter; it is not entirely clear that fathers' practices have the same effect or that sons are affected in the same way. Mothers tend to be more restrictive of daughter's intake if they are restrictive with their own intake, or if the daughter is overweight. Evidence suggests that restriction of a child's eating can perhaps be even more detrimental if the child is already overweight.

On the other hand, maternal pressure on the child to eat may also affect a child's eating habits. Children of mothers who deliver more eating prompts during meals tend to have greater caloric intake and spend a longer time eating. Mothers are more likely to place pressure on children with lower fat mass to eat and are less likely to pressure children who are overweight. Additionally, low-income mothers are generally more likely to pressure their children to eat. This suggests that this practice stems from fear of the child being underweight. However, this may promote unhealthy eating habits. Some studies have demonstrated that overweight children, but not normal-weight peers, eat faster, take larger bites, and accelerate eating more toward the end of the meal when their mother is present. This perhaps suggests that they have learned such behaviors through maternal prompts. By pressuring a child to eat, mothers may be encouraging eating beyond the point of satiety and therefore may be putting a child at risk for obesity later in life.

Mothers are generally encouraged to eat sensibly during pregnancy and while breastfeeding and to encourage healthy eating practices in children by allowing the child to respond to his or her internal cues for energy regulation. Overly controlling habits, such as restricting or pressuring children to eat, may make it more difficult for children to regulate their eating and body weight as they grow older.

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