Forcing a child to eat a whole plate of food if they don’t want it is harmful. It’s clear that the desire to control the quantity and quality of food happens because parents want to make sure the child is healthy, however, this can lead to a whole bunch of problems from overeating to eating favorite foods in secret.

A person, even if they’re little, should be allowed to feel when they need to eat, otherwise, they’ll lose their feelings of hunger and satiety and may gain excess weight. Blackmail techniques, like saying, “Eat some broccoli and I’ll give you a cookie,” usually lead to the same dire results.

Many people get scared if a child eats a whole plate of meat for lunch and chews only on bread at dinner, and out of fear, they’ll try to shove “normal” food into the unfortunate child’s mouth. But for children, a sudden change in taste preferences and the occasional loss of appetite are both normal.

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