Food Heritage: Promoting healthy eating habits from childhood, a pedagogical parenting strategy for the prevention of obesity in children

The act of eating is not just a biological urge, is social too, it is more a matter of habit and learning, a set of behaviors that develop over the years. The family and school environments are a significant influence on the development of eating habits in children. Worldwide the number of children (0-5 years) who are overweight or obese has increased from 31 million in 1990 to 44 million in 2012. If the current trend remains, the number of overweight children would increase to 70 million by 2025. The effects of improper construction of food habits on the development of obesity may be avoided by some teaching strategies. The observation and imitation of infant's habits make the people who live with them, vital for nutrition education. As parenting styles, consciousness, behavior and amount of knowledge about food and nutrition are essential for promoting healthy lifestyles. This paper proposes the development of a manual containing activities to be developed over a period of six months, aimed to children, to encourage healthy habits at home with educational tools for people who are caregivers of the children; as a strategy to avoid the growing problem of obesity.