Child Obesity has doubled in the
past 30 years.
Tom Power began research on child eating patterns 10 years ago. Childhood obesity has been increasing at an alarming rate, especially among families in poverty. Indulgent and over-controlling eating patterns have been traced to increasing rates of obesity due to the focus on external cues rather than internal cues.
Power’s research began in Houston, Texas through the Head Start program which serves low-income families and their children with childcare. Power and his team works with these children on recognizing internal cues related to hunger and fullness rather than external cues. This being because typically with low-income families they over indulge their children with food, or they tell their children they can only have dessert if they eat their vegetables. This causes children to develop an unhealthy relationship with food in which they focus more on the external cues of pleasing their parents and being rewarded, rather than the internal cues of recognizing the sensation of being physically full and satisfied. Power and his team of researchers hope that by addressing the issue of childhood obesity, and working with families that they can not only recognize the root of the issue but also prevent families from over-indulging and using external cues to affect eating patterns.
According to Power, “we have identified three common feeding styles among parents of young children”. Power explains that an “over controlling” eating pattern is one in which parents coerce children into cleaning their plate and using food as a reward and punishment for privileges such as dessert. This again demonstrates the potential for obesity because of children learning to ignore internal cues for hunger and fullness. The indulgent eating pattern focuses on using food for comfort and pleasure purposes rather than for nurture. An example of this style is when parents allow children to eat as much food as they want, or they even may provide larger portions than necessary. Furthermore, most parents should strive to achieve the responsive eating style which allows children to eat as much or as little as they want to. This teaches them to listen and pay attention to internal cues, and develop a healthy relationship with food. Parents who demonstrate this pattern are more likely to teach their children to like healthy food. Power figured out in his research, “that children may need to try a new food between 10 and 15 times before they develop a preference for the food—especially if it is bitter, sour, or has an unfamiliar appearance, smell, or texture”.
Currently, research is still being conducted in Houston, Texas as well as in Pasco and Tacoma, Washington. The families that are participating are primarily Latina and African American, and the research is working towards making them more aware of their children’s eating pattern. As well as teaching the parents ways in which to alter the relationship their kids have with food in order to make it healthier. In fact, researchers have been working with dolls in order to better explain the internal cues related to hunger to children. Each child is given a doll and at the end of their meal, they have to represent how hungry they are using the doll. Either very full, full, or not full. This helps them understand how to recognize cues and explain to adults what would be appropriate portion sizes.
The research done by Power and his team is funded by grants, and currently they are on their fifth grant provided for research. Power hopes that the research will be educational both to himself and his team as well as the families participating. As long as they have the funds, they anticipate continuing research for as long as possible since obesity is a growing and ever-changing issue in America.
Sources: Thomas Power: Tompower@wsu.edu
Sheryl O. Hughes: shughes@bcm.tmc.edu
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm
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