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Children’s
eating habits affected by parents’ attitudes to food
How parents’ own eating habits and attitudes to food
impact on their children’s eating behaviour is one
of the key issues to be addressed at the first maternal and
child nutrition conference to be held in Northern Ireland.
Start healthy, stay healthy, organised by the Health Promotion
Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA), will take place on Tuesday
25 October 2005 at the King’s Hall, Belfast.
The conference aims to provide up-to-date information on
nutritional issues for those working with expectant and new
parents, and to dispel some of the misconceptions around
maternal and infant nutrition.
Dr Andrew
Hill, a chartered psychologist at Leeds University School
of
Medicine and former Chairman of the UK Association
for the Study of Obesity, who will be addressing the conference,
said: “Parents’ own motivations and concerns
about food are vital to understanding children’s eating
behaviour. A present or past eating disorder, for example,
can spill over into ways that mothers interact with young
children at meal times. Likewise maternal shape and weight
concerns have been associated with overly restrictive child-feeding
practices, particularly with girls.
“Recognising
that both parental and child weight issues can impact on
parent-child interactions in relation to food
and eating is necessary in the context of increasing obesity
levels and ongoing efforts to tackle this. This event allows
us to share best practice so that parents can get the help
and advice they need.”
Dr Brian
Gaffney, Chief Executive of the HPA said: “Promoting
good maternal and child nutrition is vital to improving the
health of young families. Making good choices, such as eating
well during pregnancy, choosing to breastfeed and weaning
from six months of age, all help to provide a good foundation
for developing good eating habits in early childhood.
“This
conference is unique in that it deals with nutrition from
pregnancy
right through to childhood and looks at ways
to help parents give their children the best nutritional
start in life and to encourage them to start healthy and
stay healthy.”
The conference will be attended by over 200 health professionals,
school teachers and academics, and will also deal with breastfeeding,
weaning, food safety issues and an update on the Welfare
Food Scheme.
END
For further information contact
Rosie
McGaughey at the Health Promotion Agency.
Telephone: 028
9031 1611
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