Eine neue Studie ergab, dass Zwangsnahrungspraktiken mit einer schlechteren emotionalen Regulierung bei Vorschulkindern verbunden sind, was wiederum mit emotionalem Überessen zusammenhängt.

From the article: A study [published](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666324004112) in Appetite sheds light on the potential impact of parenting practices involving food on children’s emotional and eating behaviors. Researchers at the University of North Florida found that coercive food practices are associated with poorer emotional regulation in preschoolers, which in turn is linked to emotional overeating.

The preschool years are a formative time for both emotional regulation and eating habits, as children develop greater autonomy and begin interacting more with peers. Emotional overeating—eating in response to negative emotions like stress or frustration—is known to be associated with unhealthy eating patterns, weight issues, and potential eating disorders later in life. Previous studies have suggested that coercive feeding practices, such as using food to manage behavior or emotions, may encourage emotional overeating. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear.

The new study aimed to explore whether these feeding practices are linked to emotional overeating through their impact on children’s ability to regulate their emotions. Additionally, the researchers sought to determine if these practices were similarly linked to emotional undereating, which is often considered a more natural stress response in young children.

The study involved 221 mothers of four- and five-year-old children recruited through online platforms Amazon Mechanical Turk and Prolific. Participants completed surveys assessing their feeding practices, their child’s emotional regulation abilities, and the child’s emotional eating behaviors. Only mothers were included to maintain consistency, as mothers are often primary caregivers and may differ from fathers in their feeding approaches.