Thursday, December 12, 2024
spot_img

Children may not always grow out of being picky eaters: Study

Date:

Share post:

spot_img
spot_img

New York : Parents and caregivers, read this carefully. Researchers have found that not all children grow out of being ‘picky eaters’ and parents’ efforts to change the habit may make it worse.

By age four, children can become established picky eaters, according to findings published in the journal Pediatrics.

“Picky eating is common during childhood and parents often hear that their children will eventually ‘grow out of it.’

But there’s a silver lining for worried parents — while fussy eaters have a lower body mass index, most are still in the healthy range and not underweight, researchers said.

They may also be less likely to be overweight or experience obesity than peers.

“We still want parents to encourage varied diets at young ages, but our study suggests that they can take a less controlling approach,” Pesch said.

The study followed 317 mother-child pairs from low-income homes over a four-year period.

Families reported on children’s eating habits and mothers’ behaviours and attitudes about feeding when the children were four, five, six, eight and nine.

Picky eating was stable from preschool to school-age, indicating that any attempts to expand food preferences may need to occur in the toddler or preschool years to be most effective.

The findings showed that high picky eating was associated with lower BMIs and low picky eating was associated with higher BMIs.

The pickiest eaters also were often associated with increased pressure to eat and restriction on certain types of foods.

Certain child characteristics, including sex, birth order, and socioeconomic status, also have been associated with persistence of picky eating.

“We found that children who were pickier had mothers who reported more restriction of unhealthy foods and sweets,” Pesch said.

“These mothers of picky eaters may be trying to shape their children’s preferences for more palatable and selective diets to be more healthful. But it may not always have the desired effect,” Pesch added.

spot_img
spot_img

Related articles

Turkey fines Meta over child privacy breach

Ankara, Dec 11: Turkey's data protection authority, the Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK), has fined Meta, the parent...

India’s renewable energy capacity logs 14.2 pc growth at 213.7 GW

New Delhi, Dec 11: India’s total non-fossil fuel installed capacity reached 213.70 GW in November, marking an impressive...

India poised to become leading maritime player: PM Modi

New Delhi, Dec 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday highlighted that with a strategic location in the...

Syrian militants lift curfew in Damascus, urge residents to return to work

Damascus, Dec 11:  Syria's Military Operations Administration announced Wednesday that it has lifted the curfew previously imposed on...