Study Finds Many Parents 'Food Pressure' Their Kids, May Lead To Undesired Health Effects

A recent study has found that parents who have overweight kids are more likely to control their children's food intake if they are overweight themselves.

The study, published August 24 on Pediatrics, showed that researchers have studied data from two linked population-based studies in 2010. They found that in households where both the parents and child are overweight, the parents tend to be more restricting or controlling on their children's food intake. On the other hand, when both the parents and child are non-overweight, the parents tend to feed much or use "pressure-to-eat" feeding practices.

HealthDay reports that the study's author, Jerica Berge, said that both pushing to eat and restricting to eat are not good ideas.

"Prior research has shown that they may have unintended effects such as a child becoming overweight or obese, or engaging in eating behaviors such as bingeing or purging," she said.

Childhood obesity is also associated with other health problems like heart disease and diabetes.

"When parents and adolescents were both overweight or obese, parents were more likely to restrict food from their adolescents," Berge said. "When parents and adolescents were both normal weight, parents were more likely to pressure their adolescents to eat more."

Berge added that these findings can help health care providers in finding out who are at the highest risk for poor eating habits, based on the weight of parents and their respective kids.

Oklahoma State University human development professor and parenting specialist, Laura Hubbs-Tait, said that the study is valid and useful. However, she also notes that more research is needed to confirm if parents do pressure their kids about food based on their weight.

She adds that parents who put pressure on their kids to eat more or less are at risk of raising children who don't know how much they should eat.

"It is more helpful for parents to make sure there are a variety of healthy options in the home or on the table for children to eat, and then allow the child to decide how much they eat," Berge said. "It is also important to continue offering food because it can take numerous exposures to a food before a child will eat it," she said.

Berge adds that parents who are worried about their child's food intake should talk to a physician.

"Parents should be helping children learn how to regulate their own eating, helping them learn to make good food and physical activity choices, and providing lots of encouragement and support when they do so," explains Hubbs-Tait.