38 January 31 • 2019
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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.

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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