38 January 31 • 2019
jn

M

icromanaging children’
s lives 
has become a widespread 
issue in the last 15 years. 
“Helicopter parenting” (HP) describes 
a hovering, overarching guard over a 
child well into his adult life. Other terms, 
such as the “Bubble Wrap Generation,
” 
explain the result of extra precautions 
and limits put on children by their par-
ents and how a new generation of adults 
might not be adequately prepared for the 
obstacles of life. 
One study notes this parenting style 
stems out of the quest to appease parents’
 
own anxieties.
” A further study revealed 
this anxiety transmits back to the child 
and counteracts the actual intention of 
micromanagement: to ensure strong per-
formance in all areas of life. 

IMPACT ON DEVELOPMENT
Independence is established at an early 
age. Exploring failure and success builds 
character and lasting life experiences 
that are compounded for a fully capable 
child to develop into a self-sufficient 
adult. Without living through these 
challenges, a child will be impaired to 
face challenges throughout life. This 
overprotective nature leads to poor con-
sequences, such as lack of opportunity 
for independence that can last well until 
the child moves into adulthood. 
Anxiety and depression are common 
in children with helicopter parents, thus 
translating into their academic, pro-
fessional and personal life. Helicopter-
raised children often experience height-
ened anxiety when making life deci-

sions. Low self-esteem is created by the 
inability to be self-sufficient. The child 
does not know how to make appropri-
ate decisions for himself such as what to 
eat, what to wear or even how to appro-
priately pack a backpack or lunchbox. 
On a psychological level, HP can 
result in disordered eating patterns. 
Dietary restrictions in early childhood 
have been shown to result in disordered 
eating later in life. When certain foods 
are restricted, it has been seen to actual-
ly entice children to desire them more, 
thus encouraging binge-eating behavior. 
HP is also common among parents with 
children who are athletes or perform-
ers. Television shows highlighting such 
child-parent relationships regarding a 
performance activity (i.e. Dance Moms) 
display the overbearing nature parents 
provide to children to be the best and 
excel at their sport. This behavior has 
shown to be counterproductive to their 
success. 
Nutrition plays an integral role in 
the success of children, adolescents 
and teenagers who are athletes. Fueling 
athletes’
 needs, especially during teen-
age years, is all about balance and 
moderation. Incorporating enough 
calories into one’
s diet is essential, as is 
getting appropriate amounts of protein, 
carbohydrate and fats. If uneducated, 
uninformed and baseless limits are set 
on food in families, there can be great 
pushback by children to parental micro-
management. 
Gradually, the rules that helicopter 
parents use to “protect” their children 
eventually become barriers children will 
try to rebel against. If a child cannot 
have a certain food, for example, he 
may consume this food in mass quanti-
ties before it is restricted again. Lastly, a 
child severely restricted at home may go 
to others to seek foods, such as grand-
parents, friends, school, birthday parties 
and other outlets. 
The child may also exhibit disordered 
food patterns, such as hoarding food, 
sneaking food and lying about their 
dietary intake to appease the parents. 
This is all setting the scene for dysfunc-
tional eating habits later in life. 

RECENT RESEARCH
Some parents implement HP techniques 
when children are deemed “picky eat-
ers.” However, a recent study out of 
the University of Michigan Center for 
Human Growth and Development led 
by Julie Lumeng, a nutritional sciences 
professor, revealed results that do not 

support causal relationships between 
picky eating, pressuring feeding and 
growth in toddlerhood. In other words, 
pressure by parents for children to eat 
more healthfully does not necessarily 
create a healthy weight status. 
Lumeng states, “In a nutshell, we 
found that over a year of life in toddler-
hood, weight remained stable on the 
growth chart whether they were picky 
eaters or not. The kids’
 picky eating also 
was not very changeable. It stayed the 
same whether parents pressured their 
picky eaters or not.”
The study did, in fact, find that 
parental behavior is one of the most 
influencing factors to child devel-
opment — children will mirror par-
ents eating habits and food choices. 
Promoting a positive image to children 
can impact them greater over a long 
period of time and prevent damaging 
relationships with tension during meal-
times. The study further highlighted 
the need for parents to respect individ-
ual preferences and mindfully decide 
healthy alternatives rather than pressur-
ing one option. 

FLY SOLO
Children must be allowed to make their 
own mistakes and build the confidence 
to correct mistakes, even when it comes 
to making their own food choices. Life 
skills can be underdeveloped when 
parents are controlling many aspects of 
life, leading to poor communication, 
judgment skills and disordered eating 
patterns later in life.
Parents’
 information-seeking behav-
iors, when done in the absence of 
other HP behaviors, were associated 
with children’
s better decision-making 
and academic functioning. The solu-
tion to this is to allow failure, allow 
independence and allow children the 
opportunity to discover preferences, 
especially those related to food, on their 
own. Parents can establish loving rela-
tionships and healthy eating habits by 
allowing reasonable accommodation to 
children’
s preferences while still giving 
them the freedom to explore what those 
preferences are. ■ 

Stacy Goldberg is a nationally recognized nutri-
tional consultant, registered nurse and the CEO 
of Savorfull (savorfull.com), a Detroit-based com-
pany that sources healthy, allergen-friendly foods 
and provides nutrition-consulting. Savorfull is 
part of the Quicken Loans Family of Companies. 

health
eat right now

NO INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH STACY GOLDBERG/SAVORFULL IS INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS SPEAK WITH YOUR PHYSICIAN OR OTHER HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE TAKING ANY MEDICATION OR 

NUTRITIONAL, HERBAL OR HOMEOPATHIC SUPPLEMENT, OR ADOPTING ANY TREATMENT OR IMPLEMENTING NUTRITIONAL ADVICE FOR A HEALTH PROBLEM. 

Micromanaging 
Your Child’s 
Diet: Helpful
or Hurtful?

STACY GOLDBERG COLUMNIST

