Children's Diets and Development

In the modern day, there are significant concerns over the quality of food that we are feeding our children. With processed foods being on the rise and nutrient levels depleting faster than before, more research must be done to examine the effects of proper nutrition for each child. Currently, topics of food fussiness and the tendency to overeat are being investigated to determine how we can improve the diet and lifestyles of children.

In terms of the traits of not eating a variety of foods or eating too much food, research has shown that there may be genetic determinants that lead to these traits. 

In this diagram, we can observe the large quantity of factors that determine the biological and cognitive components of children’s eating habits. For example, one simple pathway beginning that can be analyzed is the conditions that parents experienced, either growing up or at the time of raising their children. For certain factors, such as cultural upbringing or likes/dislikes of certain foods, it can lead to differences in how parents portray an attitude towards different types of foods. These behaviors, whether positive or negative, can often be learned by children, affecting the way their brain responds to each food.

Ultimately, these cognitive ideas about food translate into children’s behavior, affecting which foods they are willing and unwilling to eat. That in turn affects their weight, as certain foods (especially processed foods) are more likely to lead to weight gain, whereas dislike of nutrient dense foods can cause issues with healthy development.

The other pathway is children’s own personalities and temperaments. Some children may be born more likely to dislike certain foods as their genes may affect how they experience taste and textures of foods. This not only affects how they personally react to their diets, but also incites reactions from parents, in turn feeding back into the other pathway that was discussed above.

Overall, from these findings we can take away that the way that caregivers and parents approach establishing their children’s diets can have implications on a biological and cognitive level. While many of children’s attitudes may be genetic, there is still a large role that parents take in encouraging their children to try a variety of foods and ensure that they receive the proper nutrition to develop into healthy adolescents and adults.

References:

Hays, N. P., & Roberts, S. B. (2008, January). Aspects of eating behaviors “disinhibition” and “restraint” are related to weight gain and BMI in women. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2713727/#:~:text=Disinhibition%20is%20the%20tendency%20to,or%20is%20under%20emotional%20distress. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, August 31). Highly processed foods form bulk of U.S. youths’ diets. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/highly-processed-foods-form-bulk-us-youths-diets