Child nutrition: why children should never be forced to clear their plate

Food for thought: forcing children to clear their plate can result in more than just food refusal...

 Although a fear of food waste (and fussy eaters failing to tuck into 'enough' food!) may trigger the temptation to force children to clear their plate, this avoidable and inappropriate action can not only affect their (natural) ability to sense their satiety signals (a preventable problem that can increase their predisposition to piling on the pounds as they learn to continue to eat past the point of fullness from an early age), but it can also leave them feeling uncomfortably full - a form of discomfort that can raise the risk of food refusal as a result of creating a negative eating experience and food associations. 

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