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Parents "hook" their children on sweets themselves
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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All children love sweets, and adults are no exception, who even at a respectable age cannot live without cookies, candies and chocolate.
Nutritionists say that in most cases, when a child becomes hooked on chocolate and sweets, the parents themselves are to blame.
58% of mothers believe that already at the age of three their child loves sweets and cannot live without them.
This study has sparked a real debate about who is to blame for childhood obesity, which is now a global problem in developed countries.
There are more than two million overweight children in the UK, with 700,000 of them obese.
Since 2002, scientists have been conducting research involving mothers of children aged twelve months to five years.
Experts found that 26% of mothers gave their children chocolate at one year of age, and more than half of them did so at nine months. It also turned out that 61% of mothers give their children sweets every day.
“Parents are introducing chocolate and various sweets into their children’s diet too early, and this can increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and osteoarthritis in the future. It is becoming clear that the prevention of obesity in children is necessary from a very early age,” comments nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston. “Nobody is saying that we should prevent children from consuming sweets at all costs, but sweets such as chocolate contain a lot of sugar, so it is important that the child does not get into the habit of constantly eating only sweets and chocolate bars.”
According to experts, the root cause of the problem is that parents often "feed" children with sweets to bribe them, for example, to stop the flow of tears, ask them to do something, or in this way reward the child for success in school.
It was found that 56% of parents believe that when the child grows up, his passion for sweets will disappear and thus the problem will disappear by itself. But at the same time, one in five parents is worried that their baby is too chubby.
"Children's pickiness in food is a fairly common problem, most likely, it is connected with the fact that children want to assert themselves, and this happens by refusing the food that the mother puts in front of them," says child psychologist Richard Wolfson. "Many mothers are afraid that the child will remain completely hungry, and therefore often cookies and chocolate replace a full lunch for the baby. In this case, the main thing is to behave calmly and not react too sharply to such manifestations of pickiness."
Dr. Wolfson says that if you give in to a child's provocations, he will quickly realize that such behavior is a way to manipulate his parents.
"It is not surprising that many parents worry about their children, because the world of childhood is becoming more and more complex. However, it is important that they are aware of the possible problems their children may face. In this way, parents will know how to solve them and help their child."