5 Myths About Child Feeding
Throughout history, certain myths about food have been created and, more specifically, myths about child feeding. Many of these misconceptions have managed to condition our choices when it comes to choosing what foods to consume over others.
But not only that, but they’ve also managed to influence us when it comes to deciding how or when to eat them. For example, who hasn’t heard the famous saying: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper?”
In turn, we’ve seen how some of these myths have pushed people to reject certain food groups and favor the consumption of others. Other common examples are phrases such as “Bread is fattening” or “A glass of wine a day is healthy.”
Demystifying myths about child feeding
The truth is that demystifying certain food-related myths isn’t an easy task. Myths are deeply rooted in society. This is because some have been passed down from generation to generation as if they were fables.
As if this weren’t enough, another element has facilitated the spread of these myths: the Internet. With the birth and evolution of the Internet and social networks, the way people stay informed has changed.
We live in a day and age when anything you want to know is just a click away. This seems wonderful, doesn’t it? But the problem lies in the fact that not all the information you find online is accurate. For this reason, we decided to debunk five myths about child feeding.
5 myths about child feeding
1. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
This statement isn’t exactly true. Breakfast isn’t necessarily more important than any other meal of the day. In fact, if what you’re going to offer children is cookies or sugary juices or dairy products, it’s better if they don’t have breakfast.
The key is to provide a healthy and balanced breakfast, that’s eaten in a calm environment, rather than on the go.
2. Children shouldn’t eat eggs because they contain cholesterol
It’s true that eggs contain a considerable amount of cholesterol, but this hardly influences the content of circulating cholesterol.
Often, the problem isn’t the eggs, but the method of preparation or what you accompany them with. The effect on health isn’t the same if you eat a salad with a boiled egg or fried eggs with potatoes and bacon.
In the context of a healthy diet, you could offer them eggs every day. And as always, the best thing to do is speak with your child’s doctor if you have concerns about their diet and proper nutrition.
3. They can eat pastries and unhealthy snacks because they burn them while playing
A child’s diet should never include ultra-processed foods such as pastries, cookies, chips, or other snacks.
Although they can “burn” those extra calories while playing, you’ll be giving them foods whose intake is associated with many chronic diseases, such as type II diabetes, hypertension, or cardiovascular diseases.
Other myths about child feeding
4. They have to finish everything on their plate
One of the things that worry parents is that their children don’t eat well and, therefore, won’t grow healthy and strong. Sometimes, that fear can lead parents to force their children to eat more than they need.
It’s important to note that we have innate self-regulation food intake and satiety mechanisms. Therefore, you mustn’t violate these signs when your children tell you that they’re full.
5. In restaurants, they have to eat from children’s menus
The truth is that the restaurant menus for children aren’t always very healthy. What comes to mind when you think about children’s menus? The first thing that comes to my mind is a hamburger with French fries and chocolate cake for dessert. I’m sure that your idea isn’t far from mine.
While restaurants offer adults a wide variety of more or less healthy foods prepared in different ways, they tend to offer children poor-quality processed foods.
Normally, these menus always consist of some kind of processed meat (sausages, hamburgers, or ham, among others), French fries, commercial sauces, soft drinks or juices, and sugary desserts.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Castrillón, I. y Giraldo, O. (2014).Prácticas de alimentación de los padres y conductas alimentarias en niños: ¿existe información suficiente para el abordaje de los problemas de alimentación? Revista de Psicología Universidad de Antioquia, 6 (1), 57-74
- Casabona Monterde C, Serrano Marchuet P. (2018). ¿Por qué tu hijo come peor de lo que piensas? (20 consejos útiles para la consulta del pediatra de Atención Primaria). En: AEPap (ed.). Curso de Actualización Pediatría 2018. Madrid: Lúa Ediciones 3.0; 2018. p. 105-124.