A new experiment shows that kids as young as 4 tend to eat 79% more calories when they're bored.
The experiment is the first to actually investigate how much more kids eat when bored.
The experiment found that kids, who were feeling bored, ate 95 calories even when they were already full, while kids in a neutral mood ate only 59 calories.
How does it work?
Boredom is a common feeling among kids, and when they experience it, they often turn to food as a source of comfort.
This thing, known as emotional feeding, can make kids more likely to eat when they're upset, possibly teaching them to rely on food when they're feeling low.
The specialists asked parents about their feeding practices and their kid's personality as part of the study.
Kids and their parents were given a meal to eat until they felt full. The researchers then assessed the children's mood, including a boring condition.
When parents often used food to comfort their emotionally sensitive children, those kids ended up eating five times as many calories when they felt bored compared to when they were in a pretty neutral mood.
Parents can help by diverting their kid's attention away from food when they're bored or creating an environment at home that makes it less likely for kids to turn to food when they're feeling bored.
Why it's important
Professor Farrow pointed out that it's common for people to assume that kids eat when they're bored, and some kids may do this more than others.
This experiment is the first to test this assumption.
She also stressed the importance of understanding that using food to comfort kids, while tempting, may lead to future eating challenges.
The scientists need to further explore how various negative moods affect kids and plan to develop advice and support for families to effectively manage challenges related to children's eating behavior.
