I’m no food Nazi. I’m not going to force my son to eat if he’s not hungry. I think that can only instill a natural desire to overeat in adulthood – or even earlier. So I was absolutely mortified when my girlfriend told me the principal at her kids’ new school pours leftover scraps the kids leave behind after lunch into buckets marked for each grade. He then weighs the buckets and the grade with the lightest load at the end of the semester gets a prize. The ritual is to encourage kids to eat all the food prepared for them and leave nothing behind. But is that really the best practice in light of the childhood obesity crisis that is consuming our nation?
Herds of researchers are tackling the subject of childhood eating habits, including Jennifer Orlet Fisher, an associate professor in Temple University’s Department of Public Health. Fisher, one of a few in the relatively new field of behavioral nutrition, was recently interviewed by the Denver Post about her research. Fisher says that how we parents eat, what we keep in the pantry and whether healthy foods are fun or forced all affect our children’s perception of food, and what and how much they ultimately eat. Which means as parents, we have the power to help guide our children so that they don’t become part of the millions of children who suffer from excess weight and obesity.
For example, forcing a child to clean his plate or eat all his vegetables will not likely instill an appreciation for vegetables later in life. But allowing the child go get creative with them – like dipping broccoli in ketchup – just might, she says.
Portion control – and a person’s perception of how much is too much – is another factor in childhood eating habits. At dinnertime, do your children see you overfill your plate? Chances are they will learn to do the same.
(One interesting point that sprang from preliminary data from Fisher’s research project, showed that children and adults measured portion sizes differently. Fisher’s project, which involved observing kids eating pizza, indicated that kids eat less of a pizza when the pizza is cut into a few large slices rather than several smaller slices. This bucks the belief of most adults, who tend to be “unit-eaters” who judge portions by number rather than size. Parents may want to take a cue from this research by pouring drinks in tall but slender glasses and serving dinner on smaller plates to “fool” them into thinking they are consuming more than they really are.)
While research shows future eating patterns develop in the first several years of life, scientists say it is never too late for parents, as their children’s gatekeepers, to start making a more positive difference in how our children perceive food. It just might be the secret to tackling the issue of childhood obesity.
Photo, Flickr, plasticrevolver
Someone should send that principal some articles about childhood obesity!
There is a problem with getting kids to eat in elementary school, because they get distracted by their friends. What they do at Capra’s school to get kids to eat is for the first 10 minutes of lunch, the kids are not allowed to talk. There’s a green cup and a red cup at the end of each table. If the red cup’s showing, no talking, just eating. After 10 minutes, the green cup is placed over the red cup and they can talk. I think that’s a much better approach than rewarding kids for not leaving food on their plates.