Soul Food for Kids

I vividly remember the first time someone tried to soothe my crying child with a sweet.

It was at the doctor’s office after my daughter had gotten a shot.  She was crying and the nurse offered her a lollypop.

Having watched both my mother’s constant struggle with food, and her premature death from obesity-related issues, I was hyper-attuned to the problems associated with using food to soothe the soul. 

And so, that day at the doctor’s office I whipped the lollypop away from the nurse before my daughter could see it.  I soothed her with hugs and kisses and then, only after my daughter had recovered from the trauma, did I offer up the lollypop.

You see, I wasn’t against the lollypop. I was against teaching my daughter to use sweets to soothe her soul.

Research shows that children learn to eat for emotional reasons as early as age 3.

It’s a startling statistic that makes you think.  Read Using Sweets to Soothe the Soul.

Given my history, I’m sure you can see why I was determined from the get-go not to soothe my sweetheart with food.  And while I haven’t always been as effective as that day in the doctor’s office—Read Cookie Love and you’ll see how I adore feeding my daughter sweets and treats—I’ve been pretty good about using food as, well, food.  And it is a good thing too.

A new study shows that mothers who reported using food to soothe their kids tend to have heavier children.

I’m not interested in vilifying mothers.

For starters, I am one, and raising children is hard to do (especially, if like me, you sometimes feel like you’re raising your husband too!).  What’s more, I don’t think anyone is ever really prepared to handle the range of issues that come up with kids.   Sometimes food can be a handy tool.

Here’s the study:

• Gather 100 mothers of 3-36 month old children.
• Ask the mothers a bunch of questions about how they meet their children’s basic needs (feeding, sleeping, crying, soothing).
• Gather data about the children’s height/length and weight.
• Ask the mothers to assess how they feel about their competence as parents, and how ably they feel they meet their children’s needs.
• Ask the mothers to assess their infant’s temperament.
• Crunch the numbers and see what happens.

Mothers who used food to soothe were more likely to describe their infants and toddlers as having a negative temperament.

The mothers were also more likely to feel that they were not effective parents, especially when it came to being able to soothe their children. 

Mothers who used food to soothe their children had heavier children.

Mothers who used food to soothe children with negative temperaments had even heavier children.

Much of the emphasis on child obesity is directed towards identifying the kinds of foods that lead to weight gain. 

This research shows that we need to move beyond thinking about what our kids eat, and start considering why they eat the way they do. 

In this study, the researchers found that using food to soothe the soul can be a successful strategy.  However, the long-term costs are probably pretty high, particularly for children with challenging personalities.

Soothing kids with food teaches them a bunch of bad habits, including these: 

• To use distress (not just hunger) as a cue to eat.
• That eating has rewards (i.e. emotional relief) beyond taste and satiation.

The more negative the child, the more opportunities for soothing, the more risk there is for becoming overweight.

When parents do NOT use food to soothe their kids, especially those with highly negative personalities, the risk for childhood obesity is reduced.

This is good news. 

I think it’s safe to say that nobody wants their kids to be overweight.  This study shows that by switching soothing strategies—consider hugs instead of handouts—parent can teach their kids the habits they need for a lifetime of healthy eating.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

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Stifter, C. A., S. Anzman-Frasca, L. L. Birch, and K. Voegtline. 2011. “Parent Use of Food to Soothe Infant/Toddler Distress and Child Weight Status. an Exploratory Study.” Appetite 57: 693-99. 

Don't Baby Your Babies. Let Them Take Their Lumps.

Texture, or more accurately, the way toddlers respond to texture, is one of the potential pitfalls parents face when transitioning infants to solids.

But avoiding texture is the wrong way to go.

In my last post I discussed how the French have an advantage in the vegetable department because they introduce their infants to a wide range of vegetables from a very early age.

The French strategy—both introducing lots of different vegetables and switching up which vegetables are offered from day-to-day—exposes infants to a wide range of flavors.  Read Early Vegetable Variety: The French Advantage.

But the French strategy does more: It also exposes infants to a wide range of textures.

Variety—in both taste and texture— isn't just the spice of life; it's the key to teaching your tots to eat right.

The more varied textures you expose your infants to the better they’ll eat.

Taste and texture have a symbiotic relationship.

• Flavor variety leads to texture acceptance.
• Texture variety leads to flavor acceptance.  

Think of taste and texture like a food relay race: You need to optimize both racers in order to get to the finish line fast.

Make it your goal to vary the taste and texture of the food you provide as often as you can—both from day-to-day and over the course of a single day.

Here’s the study:

• Take a bunch of 12-month-old babies.
• Cook up some carrots so they’re nice and soft.
• Puree some of the carrots.
• Chop some of the carrots.
• Dish up the carrots (pureed on one day, chopped on another).
• See who eats what.
• Figure out why.

Some of what the researchers discovered was pretty obvious:

• All the babies ate more carrots when they were pureed than when they were chopped.
• Babies who had more teeth were more willing to eat the chopped carrots.

These findings fall under the category of, "We needed researchers to tell us that?"

Some of what the researchers discovered wasn’t so obvious. 

 Look at who consumed more of the chopped carrots:

• Infants who were accustomed to eating a wide variety of foods.
• Children who started early with mashed foods, and who had frequent exposures to chopped versions of different foods.
• Children whose main meal on the day of the study was either chopped or lumpy, as opposed to pureed.

The researchers concluded: The more familiar infants are with different textures, especially with chopped foods, the more likely they are to eat (and like) chopped carrots.

The researchers also concluded that:

"Infants with more experiences with different textures seem to be more confident in handling more complex textures and are less likely to reject these foods."

Many parents are reluctant to give their infants chopped foods because they worry about their children choking.

And that’s a reasonable concern.  You don't have to compromise your feeding goals, however, to keep your kids alive. You can serve mashed, chopped and lumpy foods safely.

In this study, the researchers thoroughly cooked both the pureed and the chopped carrots, and the chopped pieces were about ¼ inch in size. This complies with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that to prevent choking parents leave bites no bigger than ½ inch in size. 

Other parents steer clear of challenging textures because their kids reject them.

But that's the wrong approach.  Repeatedly serving textures infants prefer reinforces their limited palates. It doesn't move them along.

Even if your child has a physical or development issue which makes tackling textures tough, you still have to introduce a variety of textures. Just see a professional. Read: What can you do about texture issues and My Child Only Eats Cheerios and Puffs: When to Seek Medical Help.

Kids who reject challenging textures need more exposure to them, not less, because they need to learn how to handle textures they find tough.

• Make textural changes slowly.  Mix purees with mashes so they're half and half. Put teeny lumps into sauces. 
• Serve small portion sizes so the challenge is doable.
• Deliberately vary the textures you serve.  An easy way to do this is to vary the brands you buy (read How Brands Bite You in the Butt!) and vary the kinds of foods you serve (read Falafel for Breakfast).
• If your child is having trouble, make smaller textural changes, but don't abandon your efforts.

The longer you wait to introduce lumpy, bumpy, and chopped up foods, the harder it becomes.

In another study, children who were introduced to lumpy foods before they were 6 months old:

• Ate a wider variety of foods.
• Moved on to family (or table) food more quickly.
• Were less likely to be considered picky or difficult eaters.

The message is clear: stop babying your babies.

Instead, let them take their lumps.  It's only through exposure to textural variety that your kids will learn to eat a wide variety of foods. And that's the habit you want to teach your kids for a lifetime of healthy eating.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

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Sources:

Blossfield, I., A. Collins, M. Kiely, and C. Delahunty. 2007. “Texture Preferences of 12-Month-Old Infants and the Role of Early Experiences.” Food Quality and Preference 18: 396-404.

Northstone, K., P. Emmett, F. Nethersole, and A. L. S. P. A. C. S. Team. 2001. “The Effect of Age of Introduction to Lumpy Solids on Foods Eaten and Reported Feeding Difficulties At 6 and 15 Months.” Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 14: 43-54.

Early Vegetable Variety: The French Advantage

The evidence keeps coming in: We should eat more like the French.

We should feed our infants their way do too.  

The French have figured out how to introduce their infants to vegetables in a way that works.  And their method doesn't just produce better vegetable eaters, their method produces better eaters. Period.

Remember all the hoopla over the book French Women Don't Get Fat? Well, excellent eating habits extend to French kids too.  Check out Karen Le Billon's French Kids School Lunch Project for a real eye-opener.  (I guess she's right, French Kids Eat Everything.)

What is the French secret?

The French introduce their infants to lots of different vegetables during the first month of weaning. And, they rotate through those vegetables regularly.  

I'm sure there are lots of other factors at work here, but check this out.  Researchers recently compared the feeding practices of French and German mothers and found some significant differences.  (Spoiler alert: We’re more like the Germans.)

During the first month of weaning:

• The French mothers typically gave their infants 6 different vegetables. 
• The German mothers typically gave their infants 3 different vegetables. 

More specifically:

• More than 40% of the French infants were exposed to 7-12 vegetables.
• None of the German infants were given more than 6.

The French mothers also rotated through more vegetables from day-to-day.

• The French mothers made 18 or more changes in the vegetables they offered from day-to-day during the 28 day study. Some made as many as 27 changes.
• In Germany, more than 80% of the mothers made fewer than 7 vegetable changes during the course of the study. None made more than 13.

Variety.  It really is the key to teaching kids to eat right.  Read The BIG Fix.

When asked to explain why they choose their particular feeding strategy: 

• The French mothers mentioned taste development.
• The German mothers talked about food allergies.

The prevalence of food allergies in infants in France and Germany is the same: 5-8%.

We’re concerned about food allergies here too. According to the CDC, though, the prevalence of food allergies in the U.S. for children under 5 is also low: 4.7%.

Maybe we should be thinking more about taste development and less about food allergies.  Read Why Toddlers Don't Eat Vegetables.

General vegetable consumption is higher in France than in Germany.

And it's higher than in the U.S. too.  I guess the French are on to something.

And here's an added bonus: Because the French mothers introduced more vegetables, they didn't have to worry when one was rejected. (That's something I can get behind.)

• French mothers typically gave up offering an initially rejected vegetable after 1 or 2 tries.
• German mothers usually offered the rejected vegetable 3-5 times.

So get the French Advantage!  More alternatives. Less pressure.  More success.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

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Source: Maier, A., C. Chabanet, B. Schaal, P. Leathwood, and S. Issanchou. 2007. “Food-Related Sensory Experience From Birth Through Weaning: Contrasted Patterns in Two Nearby European Regions.” Appetite 49: 429-40.