Understanding How Childhood Appetite Can Lead to Eating Disorders: A Step-by-Step Guide
A new study led by researchers at UCL and Erasmus University Rotterdam suggests that kids who really love food when they're young might be more likely to have problems with eating as they grow up. They looked at information from over 3,600 kids in the UK and the Netherlands to see how their eating habits as young children might affect them later on.
They found that kids who were super excited about food at ages four and five were more likely to have eating issues when they were teenagers. These issues could include things like eating too much at once, feeling like they can't control how much they eat, or trying to eat less to lose weight.
But it's not all bad news. They also found that some eating habits might actually protect against these problems. For example, kids who feel full quickly or who eat slowly might be less likely to have eating issues later on.
The researchers looked at data from two different groups of kids: one from the Netherlands and one from the UK. They asked parents questions about their kids' eating habits when they were young, and then when the kids were older, they asked the kids themselves about any eating problems they had.
About 10% of the teenagers in the study reported binge eating, which means eating a lot of food and feeling like they can't stop. And around half of them said they did things like skip meals to avoid gaining weight.
The researchers say that while some of our eating habits might be genetic, there are also things we can do to help kids develop healthy eating behaviors. This includes making sure healthy foods are available and not pressuring kids to eat certain things.
In another study, the same researchers looked at how parents' feeding practices might affect their kids' eating habits. They found that pressuring kids to eat or using food as a reward could increase the risk of eating problems later on, but more research is needed to be sure.
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