Restricting child's eating and obesity
Trying to control your child's weight by making certain foods inaccessible to them can backfire, especially for children who have difficulty controlling their impulse.
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Trying to control your child's weight by making certain foods inaccessible to them can backfire, especially for children who have difficulty controlling their impulse.
Studies in the past have shown that children who have a hard time regulating their own eating behaviour fare worse when their parents are more restrictive.
To understand the role of parenting style in helping female children in either shedding weight or not putting on excess weight, researchers followed 197 American girls from age five to 15 years. They interviewed the girls and their families every two years.
When the girls were seven years old, the researchers interviewed the mothers about their child's ability to control themselves, for example asking whether a girl was able to stop doing something when asked, or to keep herself from smiling or laughing in inappropriate situations. None of the 13 questions in the questionnaire addressed eating. The girls also filled out a questionnaire about parental feeding attitudes, which included questions like "If you ask for a snack, does mommy let you have it?"
It was found that about one in five girls was overweight by the age of 15 years. It was also found that lower a girl's level of self-control at seven years, the higher was her body mass index (BMI) at seven years and at all subsequent time points studied. Also, girls with less self-control at seven years had also gained more weight by the age of 15 years. The findings remained the same even after the researchers accounted for BMI at the age of five years.
The relationship between low self-control - referred to in the study as "inhibitory control" - and high BMI was strongest among the girls who reported that their parents were more restrictive about their eating. These findings indicate that high restriction in combination with low inhibitory control sets the most at-risk group apart, highlighting that some individuals may be more susceptible to risky weight outcomes than others, even when experiencing the same parenting practices.
The above results support the idea that helping children learn to regulate their own eating, rather than create strict rules, may help them to maintain a healthy weight. And for children who do need guidance parents should offer their children healthy choices, and simply avoid having junk food in the house. The findings can be attributed to the fact that parental attempts to help children with lower self-control by restricting their access to favorite snack foods can make the forbidden foods even more attractive, thereby exacerbating the problem.
Studies in the past have shown that children who have a hard time regulating their own eating behaviour fare worse when their parents are more restrictive.
To understand the role of parenting style in helping female children in either shedding weight or not putting on excess weight, researchers followed 197 American girls from age five to 15 years. They interviewed the girls and their families every two years.
When the girls were seven years old, the researchers interviewed the mothers about their child's ability to control themselves, for example asking whether a girl was able to stop doing something when asked, or to keep herself from smiling or laughing in inappropriate situations. None of the 13 questions in the questionnaire addressed eating. The girls also filled out a questionnaire about parental feeding attitudes, which included questions like "If you ask for a snack, does mommy let you have it?"
It was found that about one in five girls was overweight by the age of 15 years. It was also found that lower a girl's level of self-control at seven years, the higher was her body mass index (BMI) at seven years and at all subsequent time points studied. Also, girls with less self-control at seven years had also gained more weight by the age of 15 years. The findings remained the same even after the researchers accounted for BMI at the age of five years.
The relationship between low self-control - referred to in the study as "inhibitory control" - and high BMI was strongest among the girls who reported that their parents were more restrictive about their eating. These findings indicate that high restriction in combination with low inhibitory control sets the most at-risk group apart, highlighting that some individuals may be more susceptible to risky weight outcomes than others, even when experiencing the same parenting practices.
The above results support the idea that helping children learn to regulate their own eating, rather than create strict rules, may help them to maintain a healthy weight. And for children who do need guidance parents should offer their children healthy choices, and simply avoid having junk food in the house. The findings can be attributed to the fact that parental attempts to help children with lower self-control by restricting their access to favorite snack foods can make the forbidden foods even more attractive, thereby exacerbating the problem.
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