Towards developing a “baby translator” - An exploration of how infant appetite cues are understood

Abstract

Caregivers' feeding practices shape their child's eating patterns and subsequent health. Research shows that sensitive feeding is linked to healthy development and self-regulation but depends on caregiver responsiveness to infant needs and appetite cues. Responsive feeding (RF) is influenced both by characteristics of the caregiver and expressiveness of the infant. To investigate how infant communication is understood and whether recognition of appetite cues is associated with the viewer's eating traits, mental health and wellbeing, an online study was conducted. Participants (N = 200) aged 18–55 years were recruited in June 2022 via Prolific. Recognition of infant appetite cues was measured by participant responses to video clips of infants (N = 10) being fed during mealtimes (sampled at the start and end of a meal). Caregiver satiety responsiveness, intuitive eating, alexithymia, autism spectrum disorder, and mental health were assessed by validated questionnaires. Results showed a high consensus in identifying infant appetite cues, with no significant correlations with parenting status, eating traits or mental health, except for one subscale of alexithymia - Difficulty Describing Feelings (r = −.15, p = .03). Open-ended descriptions of mealtime cues showed that positive affect was observed early in the meal and more negative affect at the end of the meal. Infant cues signalling interest in eating were generally well recognised and were not significantly correlated with individual differences of the viewer except alexithymia. Further research to assess the association between alexithymia, responsiveness to infant communication cues and RF practices is warranted.