According to a new study, strict parents are 5 times as likely as others to raise fat kids. I was prepared to denounce this as another volley in the perpetual war on families, until I read that permissive parents are also highly likely to raise tubbies. Well that makes sense. In spite of their radically different styles, both extremes of control and permissiveness are about the parents: how can I manage this kid with the least possible hassle to myself?
Child-rearing isn't fundamentally a management project, however. It's a matter of loving and being present to the child, helping him to form in himself the virtues that he needs. That obviously won't happen if the kid never hears a firm "no," but it equally won't happen if the kid is never permitted to make any decisions on his own --either way, the kid never gets to develop his interior life.
(There might also be the little question of Americans falling for studies suggesting there's a minimum daily chocolate requirement.)
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