June 4, 1999
UCNews Service
Some Latino parents are resorting to bribes and threats to get their children to eat, even though they may have allowed their childrens appetites to be spoiled by frequent between-meal snacking.
Permitting frequent snacks and forcing children to eat at meals may be disrupting the childrens natural ability to regulate food intake and may lead to a higher than average incidence of obesity, according to a study published by UC Davis nutrition specialist Lucia Kaiser in the May 1999 Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Co-authors of the study were Nester Martinez, California Department of Health Services public health nutrition consultant specialist, Janice Harwood, UC Cooperative Extension Monterey County nutrition, family and consumer science advisor, and Linda Garcia, UCCE Sonoma County director.
The researchers conducted focus groups in Sonoma, Monterey and Riverside counties with 61 low-income Mexican-American parents of pre-school children and observed eating habits during visits to 11 Latino households. The results cannot be generalized to the larger population, but reflect some clear patterns of feeding practices in Latino homes.
The most common strategies used to encourage children to eat were bribes. For example, parents tell their children they may not watch television, go to the park, ride bikes, go outside to play or have dessert unless they eat the meal first. At least five focus group participants said they used threats to get their children to eat. These threats consisted of telling the child: "You will need a shot;" "You will need a laxative;" "Your father will hit you;" "We will leave you at home alone;" or "I will love your sister (or brother) more" if the child did not eat.
However, they also found that children were losing their appetites by eating frequent snacks.
"In one home, we observed 10 different eating episodes during the day," Kaiser said. "Typically, when the children self select, they choose more fruit juice and milk, not foods that have vegetables and meat, which are often served at mealtime."
Some participants said frequent child-initiated snacking was okay, as long as the foods were "nutritious," referring to milk, fruit, vegetables, cheese, juice and peanut butter. However, their comments indicated that children also grab other foods, such as hot dogs, cookies and soda.
Kaiser said some of the participants ambivalence toward frequent snacking may result from previous food insecurity. Many of the families have endured periods of low food supplies. If they have food in the home, they may be more inclined to allow the children to eat simply because it is available.
Kaiser said the research provides professionals with information that will help them work with families to correct detrimental feeding strategies.
"We need to find culturally acceptable ways for families to get their children to the dinner table ready to eat," Kaiser said. "To have children eat more nutritious foods, parents could set limits on snacking, offer healthy foods at meals and help children get into a schedule so they will feel like eating those foods without being forced."
Kaiser and her collaborators will develop a radio campaign to extend these messages to Latino families and will hold workshops for professionals who work with Latino populations in Tulare, Kern and Fresno counties.
In addition, researchers will analyze surveys completed last year by 239 Latino parents in Kern, Tulare, Fresno and Monterey counties to further examine parental strategies, concerns and attitudes related to pre-school childrens feeding practices.
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