‘Finish your soup’: Counterproductive effects of pressuring children to eat on intake and affect

• Published in: Appetite Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 318 - 323
• Main Authors: Galloway, Amy T., Fiorito, Laura M., Francis, Lori A., Birch, Leann L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; appetite; behavior modification; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Child feeding practices; child nutrition; Child Nutrition Disorders; Child Nutrition Disorders - etiology; Child Nutrition Disorders - prevention & control; Child Nutrition Disorders - psychology; Child, Preschool; cohort studies; Eating; Eating - psychology; Eating behavior; Energy Intake; Energy Intake - physiology; etiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; food acceptability; food intake; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; Obesity; Obesity - prevention & control; Obesity - psychology; parent-child relationships; Parental control; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parents; Parents - psychology; physiology; preschool children; Pressure to eat; prevention & control; psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social Environment; soups; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Weight status; Pressure to eat; Parental control; Weight status; Child feeding practices; Eating behavior; Human; Feeding behavior; Nutrition; Parent; Body weight; Psychology; Pressure; Feeding; Regulation(control); Surveillance; Professional practice; Psychopathology; Child
• ISSN: 0195-6663; 1095-8304
• DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2006.01.019

The authors examined whether pressuring preschoolers to eat would affect food intake and preferences, using a repeated-measures experimental design. In the experimental condition, children were pressured to eat by a request to finish their food. We collected intake data, heights and weights, child-feeding practices data, and children's comments about the food. Children consumed significantly more food when they were not pressured to eat and they made overwhelmingly fewer negative comments. Children who were pressured to eat at home had lower body mass index percentile scores and were less affected by the pressure in the lab setting than children who were not pressured at home. These data provide experimental evidence supporting previous correlational research indicating that pressure can have negative effects on children's affective responses to and intake of healthy foods.