December 30, 2024 05:04 PM IST
Parents often think that food can control children’s behavior, making it easier.
Parents often manage and control their children’s behavior and emotions with food. It is not uncommon for parents to try to calm their children’s tantrums by giving them chips or chocolate or making the tempting offer of sweets if the child eats broccoli. However, a study published in the journal Appetite showed how these feeding behaviors, which may seem harmless, can impair a child’s relationship with food, leading to habits like emotional overeating. Research from the University of North Florida examined how parental regulation of eating behavior shapes children’s emotions and relationships with eating, especially during the preschool years.
Also read: This Common Drink May Be Harming Your Child’s Growth: The Ultimate Guide for Parents on Healthy Eating for Kids
Relationship between emotions and eating habits
The study evaluated four specific feeding practices of parents: using food to regulate emotions (offering food to calm an angry child), rewarding with food (food as a reward or punishment giving or limiting), emotional eating (offering food in emotionally charged situations, regardless of hunger), and instrumental eating (using food to encourage certain behaviors).
Using food as bait, such as allowing a child to eat pizza if he completes his homework, creates an unhealthy perception of food during the early years. This practice teaches children to associate eating with emotions rather than hunger.
Rely on food to cope
The behavior of parents is a guide for children and they learn a lot from their parents. Therefore, when parents use food as a tool to soothe or control emotions, children unconsciously adopt this and become dependent on food to cope with their emotions. When children encounter stressful and frustrating situations, they may resort to overeating as a way to soothe themselves. The study also detailed emotional undereating, where children eat less than usual when faced with negative situations. However, while emotional overeating is directly related to parents’ eating behavior, emotional undereating may be a natural biological response to stress rather than exemplary behavior of parents.
Studies indicate that parents’ feeding practices leave long-term consequences. It may seem simple to put food forward as a motivator, like promising kids candy if they behave well in front of guests or banning sweets until they clean up their cluttered toys. This is an easy way to get the job done, but it makes children more dependent on food, which is considered a way to cope.
Also read: Child Nutrition: Remember These 5 Important Healthy Eating Tips For Kids
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