Are you making your kid fat?
A lot of moms (without realizing it) enable poor eating habits that can plague their children for a lifetime. As the research is now teaching us, we can influence our children’s weight as early as the first 9 months of their life – in the womb! We can do this by being over-weight to start with, overeating during pregnancy or by getting too many of our calories from junk food during pregnancy. All of these things can influence our child’s genetic predisposition toward obesity. In addition, multiple studies now show a link between over-feeding infants and obesity. According to a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, children fed enriched formulas develop about 30% more body fat than their breastfed counterparts and babies fed standard formula. While chubby babies are certainly cute, a baby weighing in near or above 100 percentile on the weight chart should probably elicit more concern than praise. As a result of this and other studies, most doctors are now reversing recommendations to supplement with nutrient-rich formula for any baby who is not premature. As the doctor said to me when my son came in at just under 30 percentile on the chart, “he certainly looks okay to me.” It’s sounds simple, but you can use common sense (and your eyes) to see if your child is eating enough, too little or too much. You don’t need a chart to tell you whether or not he or she is healthy.
Many parents are also guilty of overfeeding their children by demanding a clean plate, an especially grievous offense when these parents are serving portions too large for small tummies. I have seen parents offer their children ridiculously huge portions of spaghetti or mac & cheese and then insist they clean their plates despite protests from the child that he or she is full. It is also critical not to offer dessert as a reward for cleaning one’s plate. Studies show that because we have different taste buds for salty and sweet foods, we can actually magically open up more room for dessert even when we are truly full. So by insisting your child eat a large plate of food in order to then consume a load of empty calories is doubly irresponsible. It is critical to remember that unlike most adults, young children do not eat emotionally. They know when they are hungry and when they are full. Of course some kids fib about being full to avoid eating unappealing foods, but again, you just have to use common sense. If they eat some and then stop, they are probably genuinely not hungry. And since you can’t actually give their leftovers to a starving child in Africa, try not to bring moral dilemmas to the dinner table.
It is also important that as mothers we do not encourage our children to either fear food or worship it as a panacea for all ills. I have certainly done this and I am not proud of it, but we should not offer sweets or junk food as a reward for good behavior or as cure for tears. Try not to make too many references to “good” and “bad” foods; rather explain that some foods are better to eat every day and as much as possible whereas others are better to have as treats or on special occasions because some foods make you stronger and give you energy while others just taste good.
Of course, the best way to encourage your children to have a healthy relationship with food is to lead by example. Try to let your children see you enjoying food and spending time on it (shopping for it, cooking it and eating it), and try not to let them see you eat mindlessly (like snacking on candy in the carpool line). Studies show that cultures (like France) where food is more respected, prepared more lovingly and consumed more leisurely actually have much lower rates of obesity. Most of all, don’t stress it too much. As any of us have ever been on a strict diet know, the thing that will make you want to overeat the most is being too strict with yourself. In this respect, kids are no different. The less food and weight are discussed, the less they are likely to become big problems.
Lindsay Hill is a nutrition counselor and board-certified health coach. To find out more about private health coaching, visit www.inhabithealth.com or to learn more about Lindsay’s personal nutrition philosophy, visit her blog http://inhabithealth.blogspot.com.
