Centre for Children and Young People's Health Research (CYPHR)

Caregivers Responsive Infant Feeding Behaviours (CRIB)

Chief Investigator: Professor Sarah Redsell

Partners: Akilah Darling, Joanne Fisher, Kallie Hazel, Sorcha Hodge, Kirsten Hatton, Andre Nugent, Alexander (James) Williams (Co-design partners from Small Steps Big Changes, Shifting Your Mindset and Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.)

Researchers: Professor Helen Spiby, Professor Heather Wharrad, Professor Niro Siriwardena, Dr Karen Matvienko-Sikar, Mike Taylor, Lucy Porter, Ciara Tierney

Funder: NIHR – RfPB 1 March 2023 to 28 February 2025

 
Caregivers Responsive Infant Feeding Behaviours (CRIB) logo
 

What is the problem?

Obesity in childhood can lead to anxiety, depression and health problems which impact on well-being. The development of childhood overweight and obesity has been attributed to environmental factors, lifestyle factors, and cultural factors. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from conception to two years of age, are particularly important in the prevention of overweight and obesity.

Responsive infant feeding is protective against childhood obesity. In a responsive feeding approach, the caregiver responds in a timely and developmentally appropriate manner to the child’s hunger and satiety related cues. We studied what helps/doesn’t help caregivers to responsively feed (Redsell et al, 2021). Being able to recognise and respond to baby’s signs is key but some caregivers find this difficult. In the UK caregivers who breastfeed receive support from the NHS but there is little information available about responsive feeding and its vital role in obesity prevention.

Overview

We are co-designing a digital web-based app called a Reusable Learning Object (RLO) for caregivers and healthcare professionals to improve their understanding of responsive infant feeding. The RLO will consist of a mixture of multimedia elements including audio, text, images, and video to engage caregivers in interactive learning through the use of activities and assessments to encourage behaviour change. 

Six caregivers and one healthcare professional have participated in face-to-face workshops. We have discussed behaviours that caregivers might want to change to help them to responsively feed their babies in the first year of life.

Caregivers Responsive Infant Feeding Behaviours workshop
 

 

Papers

Redsell SA, Slater V, Rose J, Olander E, Matvienko-Sikar K. Barriers and enablers to Caregivers Responsive Feeding Behaviours: A systematic review to inform childhood obesity prevention. Obesity Reviews, 2021;22(7) e13228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/obr.13228  

Porter LRE, Matvienko-Sikar K, Wharrad H, Spiby H, Siriwardena AN, Howitt C, Green K, Redsell SA Co-design of a Reusable Learning Object (RLO) to address Caregivers Responsive Infant feeding Behaviours (CRIB) to prevent childhood obesity: A mixed method protocol Healthcare: Special Edition on Nutrition and Lifestyle Interventions for Improved Child Health. 2024, 12, https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/12/1/29/pdf

Porter LRE, Matvienko-Sikar K, Wharrad H, Spiby H, Siriwardena AN, Howitt C, Green K, Redsell SA Co-Design of a Reusable Learning Object (RLO) to Address Caregiver Responsive Infant Feeding Behaviours (CRIB) to Prevent Childhood Obesity. Poster presented at the Division of Health Psychology Conference 6-7th June 2024 Stirling UK

 

Centre for Children and Young People's Health Research (CYPHR)

The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD