Who Influences Kids Eating Habits?
Study Shows Only a Weak Resemblance Between the Eating Habits of Parents and Children By Caroline Wilbert WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD June 4, 2009 — The widely held belief that kids learn eating habits from their parents may not be true, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. A study, published in Social Science and Medicine, examined the dietary intake and patterns of U.S. families and found a weak resemblance between the eating habits of parents and children. “Our findings indicate that factors other than family and parental eating behaviors may play an important role in affecting American children’s dietary intakes,” Youfa Wang, senior author of the study and associate professor with the Bloomberg School’s Center for Human Nutrition, says in a written statement. Researchers used data from 7,331 adults who participated in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, a nationally represen
