Tuesday, November 19, 2013

More on the Futility of Parents "Just Saying No"

For those of you who are familiar with the evidence base on parental feeding patterns it won't come as a surprise to you that just saying "No" (restriction) isn't a wise plan - yet there are many who feel that the ability of parents to "just say no" is a viable defense against our current food environment.

Well, here's more evidence, albeit from a small sample size of just 37 preschoolers, that demonstrated,
"the use of restriction does not reduce children’s consumption of these foods, particularly among children with lower regulatory or higher appetitive tendencies"
It's worse than that though in that restriction actually increased children's intake of restricted foods and had a more pronounced effect therein on kids who already struggled with larger appetites.

If we want to improve the overall health of children, rather than defending an environment that constantly thrusts garbage into our children by suggesting that in defence parents can, "just say no", instead we need to decrease the number of opportunities where "Nos" might feel warranted.

[And just a quick correction to yesterday's post. Yesterday the Manitoba Child Care Association was identified erroneously as the source of the policy that led a daycare to fine a parent for not including Ritz crackers in their kids' lunches. The correct policy attribution is in fact to the Manitoba Government's Early Learning and Child Care lunch regulations.]