NP11 Measuring Parent Food-Related Behaviors with Spanish-Speaking Parents of Preschool Aged Children: Reliability and Validation of Mi Niño a la Hora de Comer-Year 4

Objective Present initial reliability results of the Mi Nino scale and validation of scale responses with mealtime observations to determine whether it captures parent food-related behaviors in low-literacy, Spanish-speaking parents of preschool children. Description Mi Nino was developed to capture “parent-centered” and “child-centered” food-related behaviors with items based on the previous English language My Child at Mealtime tool, and tailored through cognitive interviews for low-income Spanish audiences. Factor analysis will be conducted and reliability of the resulting scales tested. Mealtime observations will be used to assess the accuracy of item responses to observed mealtime behaviors. Evaluation Mi Nino was completed by 205 Hispanic parents from WIC or Head Start. Exploratory factor analysis of the responses will be conducted to examine whether the responses correspond to the “parent-centered” and “child-centered” subscales of MCMT. A subsample (n = 60) completed mealtime videotaping in their homes. All videotapes were coded by two independent coders for parent food-related behaviors using Noldus v.10 for the following behaviors: physical manipulation, feeding child, verbal demands to eat, bargaining; eating statements, eating inquiries, requests to eat, preference statements about food, and general food statements. Inter-rater reliability was established between coders through double-coding of 40% of coded videotapes (Cohens kappa > .70). All discrepancies (coded outside of a five-second window of each other or application of different codes) between the two coders on the shared videotapes were resolved through discussion and consensus. The total number of occurrences of each code was exported to SPSS v.22 and then adjusted for the length of the meal, resulting in a rate per minute (RPM) for each behavior. Pearson's correlations will examine whether rate of the observed behaviors corresponds to the behavior rating on the Mi Ninos scale. Conclusion and Implications Parent food-related behaviors are related to the development of obesogenic behaviors in children. Validation of a Spanish language self-assessment tool to capture these behaviors would be a valuable tool to help programs effectively target them for obesity prevention.