Nov. Question 1
What were your initial impressions of what controlling feeding practices (CFP) were before reading the article? Did your impressions change after reading the article? How much influence do you think CFP use by parents and childcare providers of preschool age (2-5 years) children could have on children’s development of eating behaviors and future weight status?
posted by Kirsten @ 3:21 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
My first impression of CFP before reading this article was the "clean plate club." While we understand that approach doesn't necessarily teach children to pay attention to when they actually feel hungry, it is difficult to implement these strategies from the parent's point of view. They want their children to grow up healthy and consume enough food, and to hear they aren't hungry keeps them from feeling they are fully "doing their job" so to speak and take care of their children. That being said, I do agree that the clean your plate club can have negative effects on a child as they grow older, believing they have to finish all the food on their plate in order to be "finished" could lead to possible weight gain/overweight status in the future. Parents and childcare providers may benefit from more communication with the child in regards to how they feel before meals/during/after to hep gauge when they feel hungry.
I initially had a negative impression of CFPs before reading this article. Like Nikki, it reminded me of the "the clean plate club" or food restrictions which both focus on external eating cues to control eating behaviors. We know that the clean plate rule is counterintuitive now, but it seems more parents and care providers are going to the opposite extreme of restricting foods. I heard recently about a parent who doesn't allow candy in the house, and after Halloween, the child binged on candy before he arrived home because he wanted to make sure he would be able to enjoy the candy. That being said, I agree with the article that CFPs like this should be discouraged. Children are very malleable and learn by observation, so I think that parents and childcare providers would have significant influence over eating practices and in turn weight status. To me, a more positive practice to encourage would be trying new foods when hungry and listening to hunger and fullness cues. To avoid pressure from parents, maybe a parent meeting or resource explaining the provider's stance on CFPs and feeding practice would allow care providers some freedom to avoid CFPs without being criticized.
I had a similar opinion to both Nikki and Justine about CFP, and that CFP leave a negative impact on children. I feel that it teaches children to ignore their hunger and satiety signals, and can lead to overeating and possible weight gain. This especially occurs when parents require children to finish their plates in order to have an energy-dense dessert. Using CFP does not make parents bad parents; they just want their children to fully develop. But, parents don’t realize they can be negatively impacting their child down the road with the use of CFP, altering their eating habits into poor eating habits. My impressions did not change very much after I read the article. I found it interesting that parents report they aren’t using CFP, or are unknowingly using CFP, even though according to the definitions the are using CFP. This article made me realize education needs to be provided to parents regarding CFP and how it can affect their child’s eating habits down the line.
Justine, I like how you pointed out we need to focus more on encouraging children to try new foods, not so much of eating a certain amount of food. I think parents are naturally concerned with the growth and development of their child, so the amount of food consumed is the priority for many parents. I believe with more education we can help parents understand variety of foods should be the priority (in most cases).
My perceptions prior to reading the article included references to prior materials indicating CFP have the potential of overwhelm automatic signals of satiety and fullness. In reading this article, these perceptions remain the same; though I have a heightened awareness as to the prevalence and potential outcome, childhood obesity, of such behavior modifiers. CFP shape eating patterns of quantity, and times of consumption. However additional influences as to the quality of foods offered will effect the long standing habits of the children. Provision of healthy meal options focusing on offering of a balanced meal is important in exploring alternatives to CFP for parents.
In reading the article I recognized that CFP may be purposely utilized in more elder populations or patients with increased energy needs, who exhibit otherwise increased appetites. The argument in allowing a child auto-regulation of intake is laid on the assumption of functional hunger/satiety pathways. In acceptance that this assumption is true for the far majority of children, parents may hold concerns as to the rare occurrence that their child may be under eating. Interventions to emphasize the inherent nature of hunger/satiety mechanisms to meet nutritional needs to parents and caregivers may make them more apt to avoid CFP behavior modifiers.
CFP is a major part of my thesis so this is actually a topic that I was already familiar with. However, before working on my thesis I had mixed feelings about CFP. I thought that rewarding and bribing children would not be a good way to train children to eat their food. However, I know that learning from reward has been positively studied through other areas of a child's life. Therefore, my feelings were mixed. Digging more into my thesis I learned that in some studies CFP lead to weight loss in children however, in most studies CFP lead to weight gain in children. For this reason I think it is important to explore other parental feeding practices to determine what practices should be used. In general, I think it is important that parents encourage variety in their child's diet and allow their children to practice mindful eating.
I think that the preschool age is a very critical age for growth and development. I think during these years many preferences and behaviors to food are shaped. With that being said I believe that this age is an important age to learn more about but I think it is important to not only consider the feeding practices but also the child's environment around them.
Justine, I agree with you restriction has become more common in today's household and it is to the extreme. I feel so bad for that kid that you said binged on the candy. It really is a matter of lack of education. As Nikki mentioned, parents think they are doing their job keeping those foods from their children but really they are making their children more curious and are most of the time making it worse.
My first impression of CFP was forcing children to finished everything on their plate before they could leave the table. While my family never used this practice, I grew up with many cousins who were not allowed to leave the table during Thanksgiving or Christmas until they finished their plate that was filled with food their parents served them. I remember, even at a very young age, thinking how thankful I was that I was allowed to serve myself and eat as much as I liked. After reading this article I realize that CFP is a lot more wide spread than just trying to get children to clean their plates. It spans from restricting foods to using foods as a reward. No matter what, I believe participating in any sort of food control and/or restrictions can have negative outcomes for children in the future. By creating any sort of restriction or rules around food-- children will strive to break these rules and feel a new sense of freedom as they begin school where more meals are eaten outside of the home and are able to choose for themselves what to eat and how much. Overall, I think this is an important topic for discussion to better feeding practices of children.
I believe most individuals have a "learned" tendency to perpetuate CFPs. Perhaps not specifically pressuring children into making certain dietary choices, but never the less, influencing their choices. Prior to reading the article I would have said CFPs would include: using food as a reward, bribery, pressuring someone to try something, or influence the amount of food eaten. After reading the article, my perception of CFPs did change. CFPs are not so black and white, it requires active thinking on our part to change our behaviors and comments to limit the possible occurrences of CFPs. Children are developing during the preschool age, making them primed for learning and modeling behaviors. Therefore, the influences of parents and childcare providers during this time have the potential to significantly influence kids eating behaviors and resulting health issues for the rest of their lives, possible examples include the growing occurrences of childhood obesity and Type 2 DM.
Initially, when I thought of CFP, the "clean plate club" was the first thing that came to mind, much like Nikki. While this is part of CFP, I was surprised to see what other common tactics are considered unhealthy for children's feed practices and their internal cues for satiety and hunger (ie. perceived praise and positive comments for eating). I feel that focusing on how parents and childcare providers use feeding practices (good or bad) definitely influences children in the short- and long-term. For instance, my father was forced to eat lima beans when he was younger, and even though he is now in his 50s, he refuses to touch lima beans due to his negative experiences as a child. The article discussed targeting HFP in the 2-5 year old age range instead of school-aged children in order to make an impact on their feeding practices before they are established. Besides the food preferences and ability to listen to internal hunger and satiety cues, HFP can help reduce the risk of obesity and the comorbidities associated with it.
Justine and Moriah, I agree that restriction on foods has become an issue. I feel that, as always, it is up to us to disseminate information on the Moderation Movement in order to show both adults and children that there is no such thing as "good" and "bad" foods. Hopefully by educating parents, this information can better be passed down to children.
My initial reaction to controlling feeding practices was negative. I thought of a couple of people that I know who have parents that were very controlling of how they ate, what they ate, and what times they ate growing up. Even as adults their parents continued to try to control their eating habits. Though CFP is not exactly what I thought it was, my impressions did not change after reading the article. I can understand both sides, as my sister often encourages my 2 your old niece to eat more of her main food for her meals (usually a protein) if she doesn’t eat a lot of it. My niece often gets distracted so my sister thinks of it as keeping her on track. I think that CFP has a varying amount of influence on future weight status depending on the how intensely/often CFP is used.
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