We have all heard that you should never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach (haven’t we?), but did you know there is also another thing you really should avoid doing when you are feeling famished?
According to a new study published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, being hungry can actually cause you to overfeed your little ones around mealtime.
The researchers recruited 29 mums with children between the ages of three and six for the study. Before mealtime, they asked the mums to rate their hunger on a scale of one to 10, as well as how hungry they perceived their kids to be. Time and time again, the hungrier mums assumed their children to be hungrier, too—even resulting in a larger portion served.
On average, the study showed that mothers over-served their children by roughly 175 calories, according to the daily suggested intake guide developed by nutritionists. According to the report, this effect was especially noticeable among overweight or obese mothers, who dished out particularly generous portions.
And while it is easy to think that children will only eat until they are hungry no more and then leave the rest of the food on their plate, according to this study, the opposite was, in fact, true.
“Young children have difficulty recognizing when they are full,” said lead author Sarah Stromberg, in a recent press release. “The more food they are presented at mealtime, the more they are likely to eat.”
This is especially problematic when you consider that obesity often begins with unhealthy eating habits, most of which are established during childhood.
Did you find this study interesting? Here are two more stories we think might interest you:
