Parents pressuring picky eaters can be harmful, study finds

SEE – July 31st: If you are one of those pressuring their kids to eat, then you need to reconsider. A new recent University of Michigan study suggests pressuring kids to eat food they don't like may not be the right idea.  UM's Human Growth and Development group found "pressuring kids to eat food they don't like...isn't linked to the behavior or their weight changing," but it can cause tension during meal-time.

This type of behavior also was noted to put a strain on the parent-child relationship.

Physician and researcher Julie Lumeng said explained that they found that over a year of life in toddlerhood, weight remained stable on the growth chart whether they were picky eaters or not. The kids' picky eating also was not very changeable. It stayed the same whether parents pressured their picky eaters or not... As a parent, if you pressure, you need to make sure you're doing it in a way that's good for the relationship with your child."

The research, however, assured parents that the phenomena is rarely associated with nutrient deficiencies or poor growth, so it's not a "serious behavior flaw that parents should expend lots of energy to eliminate.