Culture Post: Parents Spend 67 Hours a Year Negotiating With Their Kids

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

When a child pushes away their plate of vegetables with a grimace, most parents don’t see a simple act of defiance. They see the beginning of another carefully orchestrated negotiation—one of approximately 260 such parental bargaining sessions that will unfold in their household this year alone.

This scenario is playing out in homes across America, where parents spend a staggering 67 hours annually “in negotiation” with their children, according to new research. The battlefield? Most commonly the dinner table, where vegetables become villains and new foods are met with suspicion worthy of a spy thriller.

A survey of 2,000 parents with school-aged children reveals the extent of food-related battles occurring in American households. The average parent strikes five bargains with their child per week, with dinnertime emerging as the most contentious meal of the day.

The research identified age 5 as the peak of pickiness in children, a finding that will resonate with parents of kindergartners nationwide. When it comes to mealtime meltdowns, vegetables reign supreme as the most common culprit.

Perhaps most challenging for parents attempting to expand their children’s culinary horizons, 14% of mealtime battles stem from a straightforward refusal to try anything new.

Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.org/parents-spend-67-hours-negotiating-with-kids/

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