The reason parents shouldn't force children to eat the food they don't want

Forcing children to eat green vegetables is a big challenge for most parents today. But if you don't know how to handle it properly, parents can greatly influence their relationship with their children.

Researchers at the University of Michigan want to find answers to questions, whether parents should force children to eat what they don't like. Besides, they also want to find out how pressing their children will affect their weight, or the tendency to become a picky person and attitude when dealing with parents.

Initial research shows that forcing children to eat foods they don't like can cause stress , in the long run will affect their psychology and the relationship between parents and children.

Forcing children to eat foods they don't like can cause stress for children.

Dr. Julie Lumeng, director of the UM Center for Human Development and a doctor at CS Mott Children's Hospital explained: "We found that children over one year old still have a stable weight on the chart. "Whether or not they force their children to eat the food they don't want doesn't change that."

In other words, forcing children to eat what they don't like doesn't affect later weight or picky habits.

To draw this conclusion, the team collected data from 244 aged children ranging from 21 to 27 months old through intermediary organizations. Data collected from children include weight, gender, age, race, ethnicity or number of family members, mother's education level, etc. Families participating in the study must also complete questionnaires assess the pressure of feeding children and forcing children to eat what they don't want on a 10-point scale.

According to Newsweek, the research team sought to validate their findings by comparing them with volunteers, thereby drawing general conclusions.

Lumeng explained, picky eating can be frustrating for parents but it rarely causes health problems, such as slow growth or nutritional deficiencies in children. Therefore, parents should not be too diligent in trying to force children to eat what they don't want.

Children should try a food many times even if they don't like it from the beginning

She affirmed that parents need to do the right thing if they want to balance between providing nutrition for children and maintaining a positive relationship with children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shared some tips for parents who are worried about their picky children. This agency recommends that children try a food many times even if they don't like it from the beginning . CDC insists that children will need to try foods many times before they become interested and "addicted" to them.

Try putting food in the freezer and then defrosting small pieces of food, which will help your child eat more easily and avoid wasting food. Be patient for 1 week before starting to give your child new food. Or you can mix some new food into the foods that your child prefers. This way helps children get used to eating new and strange foods.

In addition, CDC explained that children do not like certain foods or simply do not want them to be mixed with other foods on the plate. CDC calls it normal behavior and can disappear when a child is 5 years or older.

The discovery was published in the recent Appetite magazine.