Parental feeding practices – the strategies to control ‘what', ‘how much', ‘when', ‘where', and ‘how' a child eats1 – can be a tool to promote healthy eating habits from a very young age. To support parents in feeding in the best possible way, it is crucial to have a profound understanding of the precise effect of these feeding practices on both the qualitative (e.g., food neophobia) and quantitative dimensions (e.g., self-regulation of intake) of a child's eating behavior. Some feeding practices potentially have a beneficial effect on one dimension, but a deleterious effect on the other dimension. It is also important to gain more insights in the role of fathers in feeding and the effects of paternal feeding practices2, 3. This study aims to (1) evaluate the differences and similarities between maternal and paternal feeding practices, (2) evaluate the impact of parental feeding practices on children's eating behaviors (qualitative and quantitative dimensions) and on their BMI, and (3) study the role of individual factors of the parents (e.g., external eating) and the child (e.g., inhibitory control) on parental practices and the child's eating behavior and BMI. Mothers and fathers of children aged 2-6 years independently fill in a hard copy or online survey. Parental feeding practices and styles are measured with items from the Child Feeding Questionnaire4, Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire5, Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire-286, Feeding Style Questionnaire7, and a recent self-regulation questionnaire of eating8. Parental characteristics are measured with the Food Neophobia Scale9 and Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire10. The child's eating behaviors are measured with the Child Food Rejection Scale11, Children's Eating Difficulties Questionnaire7, and a recent self-regulation questionnaire of eating8. The child's inhibitory control is measured with the Child Behavior Questionnaire12. Maternal and paternal feeding practices will be compared. Confirmatory factor analyses will be performed to evaluate the measures' quality, and measurement invariance between mothers and fathers will be examined. Structural equation modeling (SEM), controlling for parental and child demographic variables, will be conducted to estimate the effects of parental feeding strategies on children's eating behavior and BMI. The role of parental and child individual factors will be examined by adding them to the SEM model. Data collection is ongoing; the first results are expected in summer 2019 and should provide a more nuanced view on the use of certain parental feeding practices and in turn on the current health education and communication related to feeding.