It is widely known that an individual’s obesity in childhood could potentially lead to obesity in adulthood. However, there is not much information about factors of normal diet among children contributing to the development of weight problems in adulthood. The issue is explained by the fact that experts agree that a child’s life should be focused on activities and not meals in most cases. Thus, there is a gap of information on the correlation of weight problems among adults with childhood diet. The research performed by Barbour-Tuck et al. (2018) focused on the influence of childhood fat development on fat mass during adulthood showed reasonable possibilities for the fat mass to transfer from childhood to adulthood. Although the research mainly pointed to the potential risks for obesity being constant from a young age, one could say that children’s diet could influence the overall individual’s health and weight status in the future.
As for me, I agree that eating habits from young age influence eating habits and even health in adulthood. My eating habits were not significantly different from many children of my age. I think that all children share the same dislike for vegetables and fish. Moreover, my eating habits as a young child included moderately high sugar intake and constant snacking. Although now I try to control the level of sugar intake, I frequently experience a wish to eat something sweet. However, now I prefer more natural and organic options without added sugars, so it is both similar and different from my eating habits at a young age. As I often refused vegetables and preferred sweet and savory snacks, now I try to balance the need for snacking with healthier options, which is also similar and different from my early eating habits. I agree that my early eating habits were a forerunner for my weight status now, so I try to keep a nutritious diet to compensate for the lack of vitamins from my childhood diet.
Reference
Barbour-Tuck, E., Erlandson, M., Muhajarine, N., Foulds, H., & Baxter-Jones, A. (2018). Influence of childhood and adolescent fat development on fat mass accrual during emerging adulthood: A 20-year longitudinal study. Obesity, 26(3), 613–620. doi:10.1002/oby.22111