If you catch yourself heading towards the snack cabinet right after the kids leave, consider this carefully instead.
Children of ‘stealthy snackers’ tend to have greater consumption of goodies compared to those whose parents aren’t as secretive about snacking.
Researchers from Finland examined approximately 500 parents and 400 children aged three to six to document their intake of about a dozen sweet food items and beverages.
Sixty-eight percent of parents said they engaged in ‘secret eating,’ which means intentionally consuming food when their children were not around.
Nearly three-fourths of mothers – 73 percent – admitted to being ‘secret eaters,’ whereas only 55 percent of fathers confessed to doing the same.
Nevertheless, kids whose moms secretly snack tend to consume sweet treats more often compared to other children; however, no such pattern emerged regarding fathers.
According to the study published in the journal Appetite, chocolate topped the list of favorites targeted by parents, closely followed by sweets, ice cream, biscuits, and cakes.
Researchers from Jyvaskyla and Helsinki stated: “Parental secretive eating was associated with aspects of the social home food environment including family food regulations, efforts to avoid granting children’s requests, and aspirations towards setting examples of healthy behavior.”
‘More studies are required to ascertain if parents can truly stop their own eating behaviors from affecting their children.’
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