Kathy Kolasa: Model healthy eating to influence picky eaters

Q My child won’t eat vegetables and seems to like only junk food. Will he grow out of this or is there something I should be doing? — TA, Winterville

A Ally Thorson is a rising second-year Brody medical student spending time with the nutrition team in family medicine this summer. She wanted to share what she has learned about how childhood shapes adult food choices.

The best thing you can do for your picky child is to model healthy eating habits. As a child, our environment — including our parents — influences a lot of our preferences that we carry into adulthood. Food habits formed in childhood are difficult — although not impossible — to change.

When I picture my school lunches growing up, my mind instantly turns to the smells of the school cafeteria. Warm, gooey mozzarella sticks or crispy potato wedges meant it would be a good day. These are fond memories that capture my early relationship to food.

I was not a “picky eater.” In my house belonged to the clean plate club regardless of what was served. These habits persisted into my adult life. In my time shadowing registered dietitian nutritionists, I notice a common pattern: people’s learned relationships with food as children often correlate with their eating habits.

Those that were like me and told to “clean their plates” as children talk about how this affects their ability to walk from a half-finished plate, away even when full. Eating southern home-cooking —honey buns, biscuits, sweet tea and fried chicken — often decide people’s tastes and preferences that may contribute to obesity.

The relationship between people and their food begins as early as infancy, and some studies suggest even in the womb. Growing research indicates that the foods a mother eats during pregnancy could influence how readily her infant accepts solid foods later on. Even breastmilk is shown to affect the way our babies feel about food as adults.

The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study of eating habits of infants and toddlers highlighted that children aged 4 to 24 months often consumed foods high in calories but low in important nutrients for a growing child’s mind and body.

The study indicated that both moms and dads play a significant role in shaping their children’s eating habits. Children learn about food by watching how others eat. For instance, studies show that when children see adults eating fruits, vegetables and drinking milk, they are more likely to eat those foods, too.

Parents influence their children’s eating habits in several ways, such as choosing what foods to have at home, setting an example with their own food choices and using feeding methods to encourage healthy eating behaviors that they believe are best.

Parents who worry about their child’s diet might try to control what and how much their child eats, push them to eat healthier or reward them for choosing nutritious foods. However, these efforts can sometimes backfire. When children are overly restricted from certain tasty foods, like sodas or candy, they might end up wanting and eating more of those foods when available. This can lead to poorer self-control overeating, which in turn is linked to gaining more weight during childhood.

Therefore, it seems better to limit less healthy choices around children rather than forbidding them.

And what about picky eaters? Sure, it seems simple enough to feed our babies and children healthy meals, but what if they reject them? Picky eating is common in early childhood. In looking at solutions for picky eating, it is often emphasized that mothers who model good eating habits can help prevent their children from becoming picky eaters.

For example, in a study involving mothers and their children, it was found that mothers who ate healthily when their child was 1 year old were more likely to have their child eat vegetables by the time they were 2 years old. Additionally, when children were between 2 to 4 years old, mothers’ healthy eating habits were linked to fewer instances of picky eating in their children a year later.

Interestingly, the study also showed that when mothers pressured their children to eat, it sometimes led to picky eating behaviors, especially when mothers were worried about their child being underweight. Therefore, fostering positive eating habits early on, such as through role-modeling rather than pressure, can positively influence children’s dietary preferences and behaviors as they grow.

It seems very easy to learn to like foods high in fat, salt and sugar. We know, too, that children need to be exposed to some foods because of texture or stronger flavors several times before they accept them.

So, if you were a picky eater growing up or if you find it hard to eat healthily as an adult, it might be tempting to say, “It’s not my fault, it’s the way I was raised.” However, it is important we recognize ways we can break the cycle of picky eating for future generations.

From this reflection, it seems that removing authoritarian style of parenting with regard to food, allowing sweets in moderation and especially practicing healthier eating patterns ourselves can help nurture a happy, healthy child and eventual adult. For more tips on parenting strategies for healthy eating, check out the resources from the Ellyn Satter Institute at ttps://www.ellynsatter institute.org/.