You can easily picture this morning scene in kitchens across Canada: Kids want certain snacks or lunches to take to school. They make pleas for sweets and chips as parents try to fill their backpacks with healthy alternatives. The children start to nag. Transfer this scene from home to the grocery store and the nagging gets louder, more persistent and more public.
Turns out this type of nagging could actually have a science behind it.
An article in the Globe and Mail cited researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who have come up with the “Nag Factor”, which explains why kids tend to whine and complain about food after seeing advertisements.
The more colourful the cereal box or characters advertising a product, the more likely kids are to want it. Packaging, characters and commercials were the three major influences causing kids to nag, according to mothers who were interviewed in the study.
They used various methods for dealing with nagging included giving in, yelling, staying calm, ignoring their children's please and limiting their kids' exposure to the tv commercials that spur their children's insistence.
This study could mean more for families in Canada, where kids are constantly bombarded with junk food ads and commercials. According to a 2010 study reported by the Winnipeg Free Press, Canadian kids are exposed more often to junk food ads than kids in 10 other countries, including the United States.
Greek children are exposed to food and beverage ads the most (nine ads in an hour), while Canadian kids are exposed to roughly seven, according to the study. However, 80 per cent of the Canadian ads were for foods high in sugars and fats, compared to 65 per cent of the ads shown in Greece.
To complicate matters, children as young as the age of five are also being treated for eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, according to an article in the Montreal Gazette. Dr. Leora Pinhas, who heads the eating disorders program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, says this trend has been growing since the last five years.
Parents can help their kids deal with constant bombardment of ads and pressures to be thin by talking to them about the importance of eating healthy.
Susan Stiffelman, a HuffPost blogger, psychotherapist and marriage and family therapist, who goes by the name AdviceMama, has suggestions for how to deal with picky kids.
Parents should not force their kids to eat meals, but rather get them involved in preparation. Take them grocery shopping, let them help make the meals -- this way they can have fun before eating.
“The dinner table is one of the best places to gather as a family. Transform this time into a sweet chance to connect, talk, play guessing games, or share interesting things about your day,” she says.