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Children Who Feed Themselves Develop Healthier Eating Habits -- HER Daily Dose

 
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More Videos from Bailey Mosier 30 videos in this series

In this edition of EmpowHER's "HER Daily Dose", Bailey Mosier examines a study that finds that children who learn to feed themselves at an early age develop healthier dietary habits with age.

Hi, I’m Bailey Mosier and this is your EmpowHER Daily Dose.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham in England found that letting children as young as 20 months feed themselves can instill healthier dietary habits as they age and reduces their overall risk for obesity.

Researchers analyzed 155 children aged 20 months to six and a half years and found that those who were allowed to feed themselves as opposed to being spoon-fed were more likely to eat a healthier diet and maintain a normal weight as they got older. They also found that babies who were spoon-fed preferred sweets while those who fed themselves took a liking to carbohydrates.

The researchers controlled for other factors such as birth weight, parents' weight or economic status and still found that children who fed themselves developed healthier habits with age.

So the next time your young children are hungry, go ahead and let them feed themselves, since children’s overall risk for obesity decreases if they feed themselves.

That wraps up your EmpowHER Daily Dose. Join me here at EmpowHER.com every weekday for your next dose of women’s health.

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