Associations of self-control and dietary restraint with the home food environment during pregnancy and postpartum

Understanding parental influences on the home food environment is critical given the effects of the home food environment on child diet quality, food preferences, and related health outcomes. This study examines relationships of the home food environment with self-control and dietary restraint in childbearing parents. Data are from the Pregnancy Eating Attributes Study (PEAS), which followed participants from the first pregnancy trimester through one-year postpartum. Participants self-reported self-control (impulsivity, delay of gratification), dietary restraint, and the home food environment (number of fruit and vegetables and obesogenic foods in the home) in early pregnancy and six months postpartum. Linear regressions estimated relationships of self-control and dietary restraint with the home food environment at each timepoint, controlling for sociodemographics. Multiplicative interaction terms tested whether dietary restraint modified associations of self-control with the home food environment. During pregnancy, greater delay of gratification and dietary restraint were associated with lower obesogenic food availability and greater fruit and vegetable availability. Lower impulsivity was also associated with greater fruit and vegetable availability. Lower dietary restraint magnified associations of delay of gratification and impulsivity with fruit and vegetable availability. In postpartum, lower impulsivity was associated with greater fruit and vegetable availability; however, there were no other associations of impulsivity, delay of gratification, or dietary restraint with the home food environment. More consistent associations of greater self-control and dietary restraint with a healthier home food environment in pregnancy than postpartum suggest that interventions targeting the home food environment during pregnancy may offer greater benefit to individuals with lower self-control or dietary restraint.