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Are parents to blame for picky eaters?

It's always the parents' fault. Experts have previously suggested that extreme picky eating could be considered an eating disorder. Now, a new study has emerged that says children who are picky eaters are likely the result of overbearing parenting.

nypost.com - If your kid is a picky eater, you might be a helicopter parent

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It’s always the parents’ fault.

Experts have previously suggested that extreme picky eating could be considered an eating disorder. Now, a new study has emerged that says children who are picky eaters are likely the result of overbearing parenting. The new research, published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics, found that guardians who demanded their kids eat certain foods, or denied them the ones they wanted, were more likely to have a picky eater on their hands later in life. Conversely, kids whose parents imposed fewer restrictions around food grew into less fussy eaters. “Eating is one of the few domains kids can exert some control over,” said senior author Dr. Megan Pesch, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at the University of Michigan’s CS Mott Children’s Hospital. Researchers followed more than 300 parent-child pairs in households whose income was at or below the federal poverty level, currently $25,000 a year for a family of four, per the Department of Health and Human Services. During the years-long study period, parents were polled about their children’s eating habits and how they approached eating, as offspring reached 4, 5, 8 and 9 years old. Kids were divided into three groups — low, medium and high picky eaters. About 15% were included in the latter category, defined as children who would not eat vegetables or approached new foods with unreasonable caution. “What makes this study really unique is that we were able to map this behavior over a longer period of time,” Pesch told CNN. One key revelation from the study was that children did not generally outgrow their picky eating within the period of observation. Whether they might in the long term is an “important question for future study,” Pesch said. Researchers blame the dietary vice on an excess of negative associations with the rejected foods, such as memories of bad tastes or fights with parents over uneaten dishes. “Don’t force kids to clean their plate,” Pesch advised. “Don’t make them sit at the dinner table until they eat a certain amount of the food. And avoid bribing with food.” “It’s a natural inclination to say, ‘If you eat your green beans, you can have dessert.’ But that can backfire and create an even larger negative association with that food,” she added. The study also suggested higher rates of picky eating among kids who struggle to balance their emotions and who are prone to mood swings and irritability. “Some kids are wired to be more cautious, to be a little bit more anxious,” Pesch said. “I don’t think parents should really feel a personal blame for this. Some kids are just going to be picky.” Of course, regularly acquiescing to kids’ dietary whims can be dangerous, as the most frequently embattled foods, fruits and veggies, are integral to good health — and parents are right to encourage their children to eat them. “It might take multiple times before they even tolerate having it on their plate or are interested in taking a bite. But keep putting it on the dinner table,” Pesch suggested.

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