Mums lure kids with yummy food: Research

Sydney, Nov 21 (UNI) Food is being frequently used as an incentive to lure kids in one way or the other and nobody else but the mothers are active in doing so, an Australian study suggested.

A survey that involved 361 mothers of babies aged one to three years found that mothers too often use food to influence children's behaviour or mood.

About one fourth mothers offer food to toddlers to keep them busy or eliminate their boredom while nearly 50 per cent tempted the kids to mend behaviour, the study said.

Pointing out the adverse effects of such kind of gratification, Queensland University of Technology's nutrition researcher Professor Lynne Daniels said,''This emotional use of food is not related to hunger and satiety. In fact, it is undermining a child's ability to self-regulate and know to eat when they are hungry and not to eat when they're not.'' ''We know children may need to be offered new foods about 10 times or more before they become familiar enough with it to accept and like it,'' the Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying.

Most of the parents are either unaware of positive eating habits, or they are not reinforcing these, it noted.

UNI