Toddlers who eat the same meals as their parents are healthier
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Children who eat the same food as their parents have healthier diets, a recent study from the University of Edinburgh has found. Using a sample of over 2,000 four-year-olds in Scotland, Dr Valeria Skafida who carried out the research, found that youngsters who are fed the same food as the rest of the family eat more fruit and vegetables, less fatty and salty foods and snack less.
This had the greatest impact on a young child’s health than any other factor – including eating together at mealtimes.
‘Children are nutritionally better-off by eating the same food as their parents, and this holds independently of whether children eat meals together or not. Eating at the same time as the rest of the family or eating with parents, are not significantly associated with diet,’ she said.
In the study, Dr Skafida pointed to the fact that food geared especially to children, either in the home or in restaurants, is not as nutritious as adult food.
‘When children refuse to eat adult food durin...
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