Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health released a study that disputes this.....but I still like what I saw tonight! It's a quick read that does throw a little more logic into my perceived influence.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Follow the Leader
I guess the whole spongy aspect of parenting has again impressed me. Tonight, I actually witness my daughter research a menu, and pick out a reasonably good choice as opposed to her normal hamberger and fries, which is what I usually get! She chose some chicken strips and mac and cheese as opposed to the greasy burger and fries, so I considered it a step up! I myself, have also been making improvements like this for the past few weeks and I would like to think that maybe I had an impression on her. We will see I guess.
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I’m reading the article and see the research behind it, but gosh this one just doesn’t add up for me. Clearly parents are competing with the so called “healthy” school lunches, the influence of friends whose families diets may be less than ideal, and outrageous nutritional insults provided by the media. Still, to say parents have little influence stumps me. I did not go as far as to read the study itself, so I’m assuming that we’re discussing the influence of healthy choices here. Perhaps the influence parents have on children making healthy choices is not the same as the influence they can have on making unhealthy choices – another interesting bit of research I’d like to see.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it’s common for overweight children to have overweight parents, and when you look at their dietary habits, you’ll often find parents providing fast food, sugary sodas and snacks, and constant availability of junk foods. Is it realistic to believe a child who grows up with this addictive, low-quality food is going choose to eat a salad, low sugar cereal, a piece of fish that isn’t breaded, or drink water? If the school offers this child a choice of a salad bar, a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato on whole wheat and a piece of cheesy white flour pizza, the odds are they’ll choose the pizza. Before you argue with me that ALL kids would choose the pizza, I’m telling you I’ve watched children, including my own, make the salad bar and sandwich choices without my prompting from mom and dad. It’s not that they never choose the pizza, it’s that they’ve learned how to balance their choices and think about what else they’re eating. Those habits are not learned from school lunches, friends or the media – it’s from me.
I’m not an expert and I wasn’t involved in the research, but I am a parent and have worked in a preschool/kindergarten and have been involved in programs to bring healthier food to my children’s school - I’ve seen the influence parents have on their kids first hand. It DOES matter!