Caregivers’ Attention Toward, and Response to, Their Child's Interoceptive Hunger and Thirst Cues

Abstract

People can use their internal state to determine if they are hungry or thirsty. Although the meaning of some interoceptive cues may be innate (e.g., pain), it is possible that others—including those for hunger and thirst—are acquired. There has been little exploration of this idea in humans. Consequently, we conducted a survey among child caregivers to determine if the basic conditions necessary for interoceptive learning were present. Two-hundred and thirty-five caregivers of children aged 1–12 years were asked if they had recently noticed stomach rumbling, hunger-related irritability, and a dry mouth in their child. They were also asked how they would respond. The impact of several moderating variables, especially caregiver beliefs about the causes of hunger, fullness, and thirst, was also explored. Fifteen percent of caregivers had recently noticed stomach rumbling in their child, 28% hunger-related irritability, and 14% a dry mouth. Forty-four percent of caregivers had noticed at least one of these three cues. Noticing hunger cues was significantly moderated by caregiver beliefs about their cause, by child age, and in one case by temporal context (around vs. outside mealtimes). Key caregiver responses were providing the need (e.g., offer food) and/or asking the child if they had a need (e.g., hungry?). Each type of response could potentially support a different form of interoceptive learning. In conclusion, we suggest the necessary conditions for children to learn interoceptive hunger and thirst cues, are present in many caregiver–offspring dyads.