گاززدن و جویدن: سبک غذا خوردن و پرخاشگری اجتماعی در کودکان

• Using teeth to bite food may be connected to aggressive behavior, as with animals.• Children ages 6–10 were served chicken either on-the-bone (bite) or pre-cut (chew).• When eating on-the-bone chicken, kids appeared more aggressive and less compliant.• Behaviors included violation of counselors' instructions by leaving the eating area.Does biting food lead to aggressive behavior? An experimental study is reported where children ages 6–10 (n = 12) were served chicken either on-the-bone or pre-cut in bite-size pieces. When children ate on-the-bone chicken, they exhibited more aggressive behavior than pre-cut, boneless chicken. For example, children were more likely to violate the counselor's instructions by leaving the eating area after eating on-the-bone chicken compared to kids who ate pre-cut chicken. These findings suggest a connection between how children eat and how they behave. This could have implications for developmental psychologists as well as for educators and parents.

If even a slight relationship between eating and social misbehavior exists, one way to mitigate certain behavioral problems may be to alter the manner in which certain foods are served to children. The nature of eating has changed over the years due to shifts in how humans search for and prepare food, the development of eating utensils, and the foods that are available for consumption (Mintz & Du Bois, 2002). Because of the importance of food as a resource, however, its potential limit can always be a cause for conflict, whether it be five candy bars for six children, crowding in a school lunch line, or the aggression associated with perceived food shortages (McCall and Shields, 2008, Schaller and Lowther, 1969 and Williams et al., 2004). There may be a dormant but potentially explosive link between the consumption of some resources and social conflict. In this vein, it may be worth exploring such a link between eating and aggressive behavior.