Everyday routines in early infancy may shape later obesity risk

The behaviors identified on the screener — like using food to calm an upset baby who isn’t showing signs of hunger — are common strategies that parents often use to comfort their infants in the moment. But these well-intended actions can sometimes limit a child’s chances to learn self-regulation, said Savage Williams. On the other hand, responsive parenting practices, when caregivers pay close attention to their child’s signals and respond in a warm, timely and appropriate way, helps children develop healthy regulation across a variety of needs, the researchers explained.

“Responsive parenting can sometimes feel harder in the moment,” Savage Williams said. “But, when families build consistent and predictable routines in the household, they can help the child develop the ability to regulate themselves. As kids grow up and they have more autonomy, those early routines give them the skills to make healthy decisions on their own.”

The research team plans to expand this work to include families from a wider range of backgrounds to see if the findings hold true across different populations. Since many of the identified behaviors don’t occur in isolation but rather together, the team said they also hope to investigate how these behaviors cluster and interact to shape children’s growth over time.

“When parents get mixed messages, it puts the burden on families to figure out what is right for them, and that can be overwhelming,” Savage Williams said. “Our goal is to help streamline that process by giving providers a consistent way to talk about unhealthy routines and the behaviors that matter most for children’s growth.”

Other Penn State authors include Amy Moore, assistant professor of nutritional sciences; and Zachary Fisher, assistant professor of human development and family studies. Lisa Bailey-Davis, professor of population health sciences and director of the Center for Women’s & Children’s Research at Geisinger College of Health Sciences, also contributed to this paper.

Funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Center for Advancing Translation Sciences of the National Institutes of Health supported this work.

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