Infant feeding is one of the most important aspects of raising children and one of the biggest headaches for many parents. Above all, when it comes to those who don’t seem to like almost anything outside of their two or three trusted dishes. And it is no wonder, since a study carried out by researchers at Maastricht University states that children who are more picky eaters end up becoming adults with a poor diet.
The team from this university in the Netherlands began this study in 2007, for which they took as a sample 2,046 women with children between 4 and 5 years old. An analysis was carried out to collect all the necessary data about their diet. Years later, in 2021, a new study was carried out on 926 of the mothers and 880 of their children, who had already reached the age of majority. The results obtained confirmed that children who were picky eaters in their childhood were currently consuming less healthy foods.
The research revealed that children who had not been problematic with food in their childhood, when they became adults, consumed more fruit, vegetables, fish and dairy products than those who had been picky eaters as children. In this way, the study was able to show how eating habits during childhood have an impact on later stages of life.
Therefore, one of the researchers’ objectives is to raise awareness among parents about the importance of instilling healthy eating habits in their children. Betting on healthy food and including portions of vegetables and pieces of fruit, among others, in the children’s daily diet.
Punishments or anger are of no use, in fact, they will only make the child repudiate even more those foods that he is forced to eat, since he will see them as a kind of punishment.
