Despite the attractiveness of such a straightforward approach, restricting a child's access to high-fat, high-sugar foods does little to promote healthy eating habits,
In the study, the Children's Nutrition Research Center behavioral scientist, Dr. Jennifer Fisher, discovered that the tendency of young girls to overindulge in snack foods when not hungry increased when their parents were in the habit of tightly controlling what their daughters ate.
"In this study, the tendency to eat in the absence of hunger appeared to be in part a result of parental restrictions," said Fisher, also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "Kids, just like adults, don't like to be told what they can't do."
Fisher monitored the eating habits of nearly 200 five-year-old girls over a two-year period to see what and how much of several tempting snack foods they would consume right after eating a full meal when they were no longer hungry.
The study also measured parental restriction by determining the extend to which parents typically gave their daughters access to ice cream, chocolate candy, potato chips, and other "kid-friendly" snack foods used in the study. Examples of restrictive behavior included getting upset if their child obtained these types of foods without asking, monitoring the child's consumption of these foods, generally limiting the amount consumed, denying second helpings, keeping the food out of reach, and limiting how often the food is in the home. The children's perception of parental restriction was also assessed.
Fisher found that, despite their reported lack of hunger, few girls could resist the temptation to nibble on at least some of the 10 snack foods that were placed in the observation room with them following lunch.
"Although nearly all girls snacked, we found that over the course of the study, some girls seemed to just nibble, while others consistently consumed a lot of food when they weren't hungry," she said.
Fisher also discovered that girls whose parents tended to tightly control what their daughters ate at age five ate significantly more snack-calories throughout the study than those with less controlling parents. The study also revealed that those who tended to consume the most snacks when not hungry were more than four times as likely to be overweight at both five and seven years of age. Consumption of snacks during the study sessions ranged from 0 to nearly 450 calories.
"These links help us understand how children learn to feel about food," Fisher said. "Eating is an important part of who we are as families and as a society."
Fisher believes that parental restriction may focus children's attention away from their own hunger and fullness cues. This is important because adults who consciously self-restrict what and how much they eat tend to have lower physical self-appraisal and self-esteem.
According to Fisher, the study suggests that a less restrictive approach that includes palatable, energy-dense foods as part of a well-varied diet could help young girls stay in touch with their own fullness cues and maintain a healthy view of their own eating. However, she also stresses that this does not mean that parents should let kids eat whatever and whenever they wish.
"Structure plays an important role in the development of children's eating behavior," she said. "Parents should retain responsibility for deciding what, where, and when children are offered food, but children should be allowed to decide whether and how much they will eat."
Reprinted with permission, Nutrition & Your Child (No. 3, 2002), USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine. (To add your name to the mailing list for this free newletter, go to: http//www. kidsnutrition.org).
Nutrition and Your Child, No. 3, 2002
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