Is Family Stress Linked to How Much Sugar Young Children Eat?
Is Family Stress Linked to How Much Sugar Young
Children Eat?
This study looked at whether stress in the home is linked to how much sugar preschool aged children eat, and whether this differs for girls and boys.
What We Did and Why We Did It
Researchers studied 267 preschool-aged children (138 girls and 129 boys), around 3 to 4 years old, from 210 families in the Guelph Family Health Study. They measured two things:
- Stress in the home, including how chaotic the household was and how well the family was functioning day to day
- Children’s sugar intake (total, free, and added sugar), measured through a detailed 24-hour diet record
Stress at home is often thought to lead children to eat more sugary foods. Researchers wanted to test whether family stress was actually linked to how much sugar young children ate, and whether this was different for girls and boys
What we found
What we can learn from this
The results were surprising:
- In girls, higher family stress was linked to lower intakes of total, free, and added sugar.
- In boys, there was no link between family stress and sugar intake.
This suggests that the way family stress affects children’s eating may differ for girls and boys. Family stress does not always lead to more sugar in children’s diets, and understanding these differences can help families and researchers find better ways to support healthy eating during stressful times.
Limitations
This was a snapshot taken at one point in time, so it cannot show cause and effect. Most participating families were White and from higher-income households, so the findings may not apply to all families.
Read the full article published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour:
Related Family Resources: