Background: Children's emotional eating is related to greater BMI and less healthy diet but little is known about the early development of this behavior.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationships between preschool children's emotional eating and parental feeding practices using experimental manipulation of child mood and food intake in a laboratory setting.

Design: 25 3-5 year old children and their mothers sat together and ate a standard meal to satiety. Mothers completed questionnaires about their feeding practices. Children were assigned to a control or negative mood condition. Children's consumption of snack foods in the absence of hunger was measured.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Child age between 3 years and 5 years
• No disease/disorder affecting eating
• No learning disability

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any child brought in by a (non-primary care-giving) grandparent
• Child BMI at extreme of sample
• Incongruous mood shift to condition
• Child of non-english speaking/reading parent

healthy 3-5 year old children in the UK (within approx. radius of 10 miles of Loughborough University).