Doctors have urged American parents to address how to provide a healthy diet for their children after it was revealed that 60% play personal chef to their kids.
In the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, Susan Woolford and her team analyzed data recorded from 1,083 responses.
Don’t be a personal chef
The new report showed that 3 in 5 parents often prepare specific foods for specific kids in a bid to provide them with a healthy diet they enjoy. Though this doesn’t sound particularly unhealthy on paper, Woolford said it could set a dangerous precedent for the child’s future eating habits.
“Rather than allowing the child to choose an alternate menu, parents should provide a balanced meal with at least one option that their child is typically willing to eat,” she said. “Then if their child chooses not to eat, parents should not worry as this will not cause healthy children any harm and they will be more likely to eat the options presented at the next meal.”
Woolford continued to point out that kids benefit massively from watching and imitating, meaning it’s helpful to show them what a well-balanced diet looks like. If they are eating veggies and you’re eating a pizza, of course, they are going to want that instead.
“Feeding young children can be difficult due to general pickiness, hesitancy to try unfamiliar foods, and constantly evolving food preferences,” she added. “The preschool and elementary age is an important time to establish healthy eating patterns. Yet parents’ concern about whether their child is eating enough or if they’re getting the nutrients they need may lead them to adopt practices that actually sabotage their efforts to get kids to have healthy eating habits in the short and long term.”
What else did the report show about a healthy diet for kids?
The report also addressed the common practice of demanding that a kid eat everything on their plate before leaving the table. Sometimes, parents go one step further and ban dessert until the plate is finished.
“Requiring children to eat everything on their plate, or withholding dessert unless all other foods are eaten, can lead to overconsumption, especially if portion sizes are too large for the child’s age,” Woolford said.
As a firm believer in the metaphor, she also urged parents to consider using the phrase “parents provide, and the child decides.” This way, the parent dictates the health element of the meal, and kids decide how much they put in their bodies.
