By Amy Norton
In a study of 62 children followed from birth to age two, UK researchers found that children with mothers who tried to closely control how much they ate as babies generally weighed less by the age of two.
This was true whether mothers restricted their child's eating or pressured them to eat more.
The findings, reported in the journal Pediatrics, suggest that when children are very young, strict control over their eating might prevent excessive weight gain.
However, other studies have found that parents' controlling ways may backfire with older children, increasing their odds of becoming overweight.
Dr. Jacqueline Blissett, one of the researchers on the current study, explained that once children are around five years of age and begin making choices about what and how much to eat, those whose parents overly restrict their eating tend to overindulge when they have the chance.
Past studies have found that strict diet control may, in the long run, thwart children's self-control or encourage "emotional" eating.
"Most children, if provided with a range of appropriate and healthy foods, should be capable of 'self-regulating' their food intake," Blissett, of the University of Birmingham, told Reuters Health.
The current findings, therefore, are not an endorsement of tight diet restrictions, according to the researchers.
The study involved 62 mothers who completed a questionnaire on their child-feeding practises when their children were one year old. The children's weight was measured at birth and ages one and two.
The questionnaire asked mothers the extent to which they limited their children's intake of sweets, fatty food and the children's favourite foods. On the other end of the spectrum, they were asked whether they tended to pressure their children to eat more.
In general, children whose mothers tried to exert the most control over their early eating - whether that meant being restrictive or pressuring them to eat more - weighed less than their peers by the age of two.
This was true even when the researchers considered the child's weight at age one.
There was a relationship, however, between birthweight and mothers' tendency to pressure their children to eat. It's likely that mothers who believe their children to be underweight try to push them to eat more, according to the researchers.
According to Blissett, parents who are worried about their infant's or toddler's weight should get medical advice. For children who are within the normal weight range, she said, research suggests that parents should control what goes on their plates, but children should control "what goes in their mouths."
In general, she noted, parents will likely do better by taking a positive approach to eating - giving their children a wide choice of healthy foods, and setting a good example by eating those foods themselves.