Nearly 20% of children are overweight or obese! 4 dietary patterns to help children control their weight

Expert interviewed: Zhang Silai, former director of the Department of Pediatrics, Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

Recently, researchers from Aston University in the UK published a new study in the international medical journal Appetite, saying that there is a causal relationship between children's eating behavior patterns and overweight and obesity. The researchers conducted a detailed survey of 995 child guardians in the UK, summarized four eating behavior patterns of children, and explored the reasons behind them, providing a reference for parents to manage their children's weight.

1. Gluttony mode (22%) : Also called frenzy mode, this mode is characterized by a greater enjoyment of food, faster eating speed, and a weaker sensitivity to internal cues such as fullness. This makes it easier to engage in emotional overeating and have a stronger desire to drink.

2. Happy mode (18%) : The enjoyment of food is high, which is mainly reflected in the positive response to food from the perspective of sight and smell. People always want to eat or eat more delicious food, but they eat quickly and are sometimes prone to emotional overeating.

3. Typical pattern (44%) : Food responsiveness, satiety, and eating speed are all at normal and balanced levels. Emotional eating problems rarely occur, and the individual is not picky about food.

4. Avoidance mode (16%) : Picky about food, poor satiety response, slow eating, and significantly lower level of enjoyment of food.

The study said that both the gluttonous mode and the happy mode can easily lead children to overeating, which in turn increases the risk of obesity and overweight. However, the negative impact of the gluttonous mode is far greater than that of the happy mode. The researchers further found that temperament, feeding methods and food scarcity are all factors that affect children's eating behavior patterns. For example, greedy children are more likely to become impulsive and have more negative emotions, and caregivers are more likely to frequently regulate their emotions by controlling food. Relatively speaking, children in the happy mode like food more and are less driven by the food supply in the surrounding environment.

Zhang Silai, former director of the Department of Pediatrics at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine's Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, told the Global Times Health Client that some children do overeat in clinical practice. The root cause is that it is related to the child's emotions and the parents' feeding habits. For example, some parents use food as a reward or punishment for their children, such as letting them eat a hamburger if they perform well, and not letting them eat a small cake if they perform poorly. This misleads children from an early age, causing them to have an impression of craving for unhealthy foods such as hamburgers and cakes, and they are prone to overeating when they have the opportunity to get them in the future. There are also some social and cultural factors. Some parents or elders believe that infants and young children are stronger and cuter when they are a little fatter, so they feed their children without restraint and even encourage them to eat more, which can also lead to children forming unhealthy eating habits. Therefore, it is crucial for children to develop good eating habits by paying attention to feeding habits.

Dr. Abigail Picard, the lead author of the study, said that parents can adjust feeding strategies according to their children's eating habits. For example, for children who are greedy, parents can adopt the "quiet restriction of diet" method, that is, not bringing snacks home or not showing food, so as to reduce the child's lack of self-control when facing food temptation when not hungry. If the child is picky about food, then the diversity of food will be better for the child to encourage them to try food without pressure to eat.

Zhang Silai also reminded that parents should set a good example for their children to have a diversified and balanced diet, avoid forced feeding and overfeeding, and eat at regular times, places and quantities, with each meal lasting 20 to 30 minutes. Second, parents should not deliberately show their preference for food, but should cater to their children's tastes appropriately on the premise of health, nutrition and diversity.

At present, the proportion of overweight and obese children in school-age children is close to 20%. Obesity is a chronic disease that will have a variety of adverse effects on children's growth and development, blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar and other health, and must be taken seriously. Zhang Silai said that people become fat mainly because of the increase in the number of fat cells and the increase in the size of fat cells. Children gain weight mainly because of the increase in the number of fat cells, and of course the increase in the size of fat cells. Fat cells have memory functions. If they are obese in early life, they will have a negative impact on their children's lives. Therefore, parents must pay attention to the four key periods of fat control for their children: 1. The late pregnancy of the mother (the last 3 months). At this stage, especially eating too much in the last month of pregnancy, may cause the number of fetal fat cells to increase too quickly, and even give birth to a giant baby. In addition, the fetus begins to swallow amniotic fluid at 17 weeks, and will "first taste" through the mother's amniotic fluid. If the mother can reasonably control her weight, avoid gestational diabetes, and develop a diversified eating habit, the child will be more likely to accept the taste of various foods after the birth of complementary foods. At the same time, children's obesity is also affected by genetic factors, and pregnant mothers with gestational diabetes will also give birth to obese children. 2. Infancy (within 1 year old). Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for 0-6 months. If formula milk is added too early or excessive milk powder is fed, complementary food is added too early (within 4 months of age), or overfeeding may lead to an increase in the number of fat cells in the baby's body. 3. Childhood, especially 5-7 years old, is the most prone to obesity in a person's life. It is also a critical stage for parents to cultivate good eating habits and behavioral habits for their children. Pay attention to adding snacks reasonably, eliminate high-sugar, high-oil, and high-salt foods, and develop good exercise habits. 4. During adolescence, the proliferation of fat cells is very active. If you are obese during adolescence, the risk of obesity in adulthood will increase by 70%.

Zhang Silai emphasized that in order to help children control their weight, parents must grasp the above four key periods when the number of fat cells increases. On the one hand, we must pay attention to the formation of good eating habits in children, and on the other hand, we must pay attention to the health of their lifestyle, such as increasing exercise, ensuring sleep, and paying attention to mental health. "Don't let your children be too busy, only focusing on studying, and not having time to eat, rest and exercise properly." (Global Times Health Client reporter Ren Linxian)