Think your kid is developing decent eating and exercise habits? Think again, according to a new study published in the journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
A team led by Dr. Hollie Raynor of the department of nutrition at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, surveyed the mothers of 174 children aged two to 12 about diet and activity in their free time. Heights and weights were obtained from the children's medical records.
Comparing what mothers reported to their children’s heights and weights showed that mothers tended to overestimate how well their children were eating and how much they were exercising, and that while mothers said preschool kids did better than elementary age kids, in fact there was not much difference.
Now, I have to say that if only heights and weights are looked at, that seems to be bad data. I know plenty of pudgebucket two-year-olds whose parents are really conscientious about food and TV and outside time (unless they are stuffing them full of McDonald’s and Dora when I am not looking, which I doubt). I know plenty more fat little toddlers who grew into lean, active kids. And conflating weight alone with poor diet is also a mistake – we all know people who are skinny by dint of great genes or by consuming few calories, but all they eat is crap.
Still, it’s fairly troubling that parents tend to think they are doing fine feeding their kids when in fact, they may not be. I’ve recently joined a very popular commercial weight loss program and the biggest key to success is tracking – you write down everything you eat and drink. Do that for a few days and lo and behold you realize why you ended up needing a weight loss program in the first place, and it keeps you on track and away from overeating. Maybe doing the same for our kids would not be the worst idea?
