A new study is showing that the pandemic has changed how parents feed their children. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, the public was not fully aware of how much of their lives would be changed. When the public health guidelines started being rolled out, it became clear that this was serious and something that not many people had ever experienced in their lifetime. It had an impact on mental health, it had an impact on the financial security of families and it even had an impact on how families interact and act with each other.
According to Medical Xpress, a new study is showing that the pandemic even brought changes to how parents feed their children. This was based on a study that was done by the University of Minnesota Medical School, and it can be read in full here.
Specifically, the pandemic showed a shift from healthy feeding practices by parents of young children. Katie Loth was the lead author of the study, and she said that parenting during the pandemic was incredibly challenging, and this is what may have caused the change in how some parents fed their children.
What the study found was that during the pandemic, parents were not as structured in their approach to feeding their children. This seems reasonable, as everyone’s schedule kind of went out the window, with parents working from home and activities and events cancelled. Parents also had fewer rules and limits when it came to food, and less routine. When it comes to healthy habits with children and food, parents will involve their children in the meal prep, talk to their children about what they are eating, and praise them for trying new foods.
These are the things that seemed to disappear during the pandemic. Katie stated that all of these changes are to be expected, and they are not releasing this study to “shame” or “guilt” any mom, but they want to focus now on how parents can get back on track with feeding their families and making sure it is a healthy lifestyle. It may be time to put more routine and structure back into mealtimes, and that parents are modeling good behavior when it comes to food. The world is slowly starting to return to normal, and there will be a transition experienced as parents try to return back to the life they led before it started.
Sources: Medical Xpress, Science Direct