Ice Cream

Nothing says summer quite like ice cream. It can be licked, bitten, slurped through a straw, spooned and shoveled. It comes in many flavors. It is cold and refreshing on a hot day.

But there is something about ice cream and young children that can be confounding. How can a child eat only two bites and be done?

Researchers at Penn State University have a line of research I call the Mac-n-Cheese Study where they experimented with how young children clean their plates. They found that preschoolers typically eat about 1/3 of their food, or 186 calories, when given a one cup portion of macaroni and cheese. But, when given a two cup portion of the "comfort" food the kids ate about 1/2 of their food, or 258 calories.

The more food the adults put on the plate, the more the preschoolers ate.

Larger portions encourage overeating. Avoid portion distortion by placing too much food on their plates. Youngsters do not need membership in the clean-your-plate club. Kids may be done after a couple of bites.

Instead of encouraging eating all of their ice cream the next time I hear a child say they are full after a couple of licks… I will celebrate with song by singing my Dad’s favorite tune for the occasion:

I scream!

You scream!

We all scream for ICE CREAM!

The leftover ice cream can be saved in the freezer for another day.

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