Force-Feeding Children - A Look into the Future
Today, I took my youngest to the McDonald's play area. A woman came in with her 2 young daughters. The mother was an obese woman and her oldest daughter was considerably overweight. The youngest daughter must have been about 5, but outside of her chubby little cheeks, she seemed to be a normal weight.
They sat down to eat, but the youngest girl said she wasn't very hungry. The older girl was eagerly gobbling her food...as girls should do when they're hungry. The mother said something like, "Look at your sister. She's eating all her food. You should eat like her."
The little girl takes a bite and then runs off to play. In the next 15 minutes or so, the woman continues to insist her daughter eats more food over and over again.
As a child, I was forced to eat and I have add issues with overeating in my life. I don't think children should be forced to eat. Of course, there are exceptions when you know they're hungry, but they won't sit still to eat. Maybe, that really was the case at McDonald's today...I don't know).
This is a point of contention with my husband because he was never forced to eat and had issues with being underweight a good portion of his life...but I think that has a lot do with his genetic make-up and his mother was underweight as well.
Kids aren't going to starve themselves. If we present them with regular meals and snacks, they'll get what they need out of it. I rarely will insist that my kids need to eat. Yes, they need to sit at the table while everyone else eats (I try my best)...but I won't force food into their mouths.
Now, I have to be careful what I say because I don't want to be offensive, but I don't really like what I saw at the McDonald's today. Perhaps, the olders girl's excessive weight has to do more with genetic make-up than overeating...but asking a young child who says she's not hungry to eat more and more seems wrong. And adding to that, asking the young girl to be more like her sister and eat when she's told makes me worry for that young girl's health. That young girl who now appears to be in tune with what her body needs will lose that at the insistence of a mother who force-feeds her children.
They sat down to eat, but the youngest girl said she wasn't very hungry. The older girl was eagerly gobbling her food...as girls should do when they're hungry. The mother said something like, "Look at your sister. She's eating all her food. You should eat like her."
The little girl takes a bite and then runs off to play. In the next 15 minutes or so, the woman continues to insist her daughter eats more food over and over again.
As a child, I was forced to eat and I have add issues with overeating in my life. I don't think children should be forced to eat. Of course, there are exceptions when you know they're hungry, but they won't sit still to eat. Maybe, that really was the case at McDonald's today...I don't know).
This is a point of contention with my husband because he was never forced to eat and had issues with being underweight a good portion of his life...but I think that has a lot do with his genetic make-up and his mother was underweight as well.
Kids aren't going to starve themselves. If we present them with regular meals and snacks, they'll get what they need out of it. I rarely will insist that my kids need to eat. Yes, they need to sit at the table while everyone else eats (I try my best)...but I won't force food into their mouths.
Now, I have to be careful what I say because I don't want to be offensive, but I don't really like what I saw at the McDonald's today. Perhaps, the olders girl's excessive weight has to do more with genetic make-up than overeating...but asking a young child who says she's not hungry to eat more and more seems wrong. And adding to that, asking the young girl to be more like her sister and eat when she's told makes me worry for that young girl's health. That young girl who now appears to be in tune with what her body needs will lose that at the insistence of a mother who force-feeds her children.
posted by Alice at 1:52 PM
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5 Comments:
I agree. I was also raised to "clean my plate" and as a result I never know when to stop eating and my tendency is always to overeat (I never stop when i'm full).
On the other hand my DH only ever eats until he is full and stops (he was never pushed to eat all his food).
I've caught myself close to telling the kids to eat all their foods a few times (bad conditioning) but i've stopped myself. Instead now I often tell them to eat only until they're full.
Kids know when their bodies need food and they are naturally in touch with those instincts. Sadly many of us loose those instincts with age and sometimes due to being told to eat all our food.
I agree. As a child I ate when I was told and when I first became a parent I thought it was my job to make them eat but it didnt take me long to realize that they will eat when they are hungry. I do not force my kids to eat and I surely do not compare mine to others or their siblings. That is sad.
ITA!! Very well said to Alice.
I've never been a "Clean your plate" type of mom. I make sure that I searve a protein, veggies and a nice side dish and your job is to eat a little bit of it all til' you say you are done.
I may prompt my son and say " Are you sure you are done? You know snack time is 2hrs. away".. or something like that but I never demand a clean plate.
Agreed. Kids will be much happier and healthier if they are presented wtih healthy options and eat until they are full.
I agree as well Alice. I was never made to eat all my food when I was growing up. DH on the other hand had to finish all his food before he could have anything to drink. He's one to tell the girls to eat their food. I don't like when he does that. I've explained why. I've even showed him - my sister and I were never forced to eat things and neither one of us has weight problems. His family - out of the 4 kids over 18 - 3 are overweight and the 4th is getting there.
They say the same thing with bottle fed babies vs breastfed babies. Lots of times bottle fed babies are made to drink their whole bottle. Breastfeed babies eat what they need and their done.
Like you said, if you give them healthy options, they'll get what they need.
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