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Controlled Infant Feeding and the Obesity Link
Should Parents Restrict How Much Their Baby Eats?
By Lisa A. Goldstein
(SWAK Pak, 2005). "Therefore, parents should be in charge of what types of food are available and respond appropriately to their children's expressed need for food," she says. "Likewise, they should not use food to comfort, reward or distract their children since this can lead to the formation of inappropriate eating triggers."
The study authors acknowledge that the sample size is relatively small, and, therefore, the results should be interpreted cautiously. They write in the study's conclusion: "It would have been beneficial to have had reliable length data from these children to establish weight for length rather than just weight and also to have parental BMI requirements to take into account the impact of parental weight on child weight. Finally, one year is not a sufficient time period to fully evaluate the impact of controlling feeding practices on child weight, and additional longitudinal research is necessary to establish the effects of these feeding practices on disinhibition, eating, and weight in older children."
There's a fairly large body of research indicating that the more preschoolers are pressured to eat, the more selective and finicky they become in their eating, says Dr. Andrea Vazzana, who specializes in eating disorders and weight management at the NYU Child Study Center. This may be part of the "discounting principle" wherein they become suspect of foods that require so much encouragement to eat, she says.
"When you allow children to eat in a low-pressure environment, they are actually more likely to try new foods," Dr. Vazzana says.
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