Should You Control What Your Kid Eats?

There’s been a lot of controversy since Weight Watchers introduced its’ Kurbo app for kids. The app, based on a Stanford University weight control program, doesn’t rely on counting calories but rather uses a “Traffic Light” system to categorize foods as either Red (eat six or fewer), Yellow (watch portion size) or Green (eat lots of these). The app also includes an activity journal and weekly challenges but critics have argued that it’s just a diet by another name and could lead to stigmatization, low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, and possibly contribute to eating disorders.

There’s little doubt that obesity in childhood presents significant health risks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that childhood obesity contributes to high blood pressure and high cholesterol which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, gall stones, type 2 diabetes, etc. etc. Given these risks should parents use Kurbo or other methods to try to control what their kids eat?

Proponents of health at every size and intuitive eating fear that parental control may undermine the child’s self-regulation of eating. They suggest that restricting food choices or even labeling foods as good or bad can lead to increased desire for the “bad” foods resulting in overconsumption, emotional eating, and possibly weight gain. So what’s a parent to do? Not say anything and let their child choose foods or should Mom and Dad encourage the child to eat some foods but avoid others?

A recent study looked at maternal control of their children’s eating and the child’s subsequent dieting behaviors. Childhood dieting has been associated with negative consequences including eating disorders, low self-esteem, and emotional eating. In this study mothers of 776 third graders were asked, “Do you let your child eat what he/she feels like eating?” and the Mom’s responses were graded according to the degree of control.

When the children were sixth graders they were asked if they were dieting to lose weight or keep from gaining weight in the past month. Almost sixty percent of the kids whose mothers reported no control over their child’s eating in third grade were dieting when they reached sixth grade. In contrast, when mothers were controlling eating in third grade only thirty-six percent of their children were dieting in sixth grade.

The authors conclude, “…controlling feeding practices seem to be protective and reduce the risk of later dieting.” So, while putting a kid on a diet is counterproductive parents should help their children make better food choices. Maybe Kurbo would help, or for suggestions for using the Traffic Light system you could check my book, “It’s NOT Just Babyfat!”