HEALTHY EATING
Early Establishment of Healthy Eating Habits in Childhood:
A Preventative Measure Against Childhood Obesity By Jocelyn Wey, Cynthia Bogran, Yi Fang, Darwin Nguyen and Adeel Sajid
Obesity in childhood has both immediate and long-term consequences. Preventable diseases, usually associated with adulthood, are occurring more frequently in the pediatric population, largely due to obesity.3 For example, type II diabetes mellitus, a disease usually associated with the older population, is now being seen more regularly in some settings, contributing to almost half of new pediatric diabetes cases.3 Obese children also have an increased risk for asthma, sleep apnea and even cardiovascular disease.10 Furthermore, obese children are also more likely to also be obese as adults, which is associated with similar health problems such as hypertension, gout, cardiovascular disease and stroke.3,10 While development of childhood obesity is multifactorial, major contributory factors such as dietary choices and parental influence 30
SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • May 2021
on eating habits are impactful and tend to be established early in childhood.1 Additionally, the role of different eating patterns among racial and ethnic groups may also influence the development of obesity in childhood.1 In San Antonio specifically, there is a disproportionately high rate of pediatric obesity among the Hispanic community. A great percentage of these children reside in the south and central regions of the city, corresponding to lower socioeconomic status communities.2 This is important to keep in mind during office visits and while counseling parents and patients on healthy eating habits, as some studies have also found parents of lower socioeconomic status tend to engage in poor eating habits which are then transferred to their children.5 What, how and when food is consumed matters. Lindsay et al., found that children
tend to develop their food habits early on through “exposure and repeated experiences.”4 Early exposure to healthy, nutrientrich foods, such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains increases the odds these types of foods will be eaten more often both in childhood and adulthood. Another key factor in establishing healthy eating habits at an early age relies on parents serving as role models. A number of studies have shown how the perceptions, beliefs, emotional status and even the BMI of the mother substantially influence dietary practices and weight of children.6,7,8 Early in development, children have a tendency to model and eat what their parents consume, especially developing preferences for what their mothers eat.4 Preschool-aged children tend to have a strong dislike of new foods. Low consumption of fruit and vegeta-
