children would copy their parents’ food choices

A new research project has shown exactly how important parents are when it comes to determining the eating habits of their children. The study which involved 120 children asked them to go shopping in a play grocery supermarket. The results showed that even children as young as two mirrored the purchasing habits of their parents.

The researchers explained that children who picked up processed foods and unhealthy sugary drinks tended to have parents who consumed a high amount of these items, and those children who picked up things like fruits and vegetables tended to have parents who would do exactly the same.

The research which was published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine is noteworthy because it shows that young children do not always go for sweets and sugary items which would be expected but tend to follow the lead of their parents. This implies that food choices are very much down to nurture as opposed to nature.

Dr Lisa Sutherland from the Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire explained that children would copy their parents’ food choices even before they were aware of the implications and reasons for such choices.

It is a sad fact of life that children who have obese unhealthy eating parents are statistically more likely to turn out that way too and that parents who instil healthy eating habits in their children by setting good example are setting up their children’s future health for life.

Another aspect that parents should be aware of is that if their children are obese when they reach their teenage years they are likely to stay that way for the rest of their lives and that the older they get the more difficult it is to change eating habits.

Parents who are overweight should take parenthood as an opportunity to practice what they preach if they are serious about setting up their children for good health in the future and this will help them with their own diets too.