Self Control

NPR Morning Edition often has pretty interesting stories.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133629477/for-kids-self-control-factors-into-future-success?ps=cprs
I am very glad they reported on this one, and it will worth sharing this link with parents. I taught high school for five years and showed my students a video of young preschool children being asked to wait a few minutes to eat the marshmallow sitting in front of them, and if they could wait they would be rewarded with two. My students also watched  how preschoolers behave with food when no adult is around, or with parenting styles that tend to restrict food choices. It was always a thought provoking discussion.

Too often parenting behavior is a reflection of how we have been parented. We tend to parent impulsively unless we plan to do otherwise. Parents need good role models and support. It is hard work in an age of instant gratification to wait for anything! Support is as critical to parenting as it is to the development of any other habit.

I have not yet read Mary Alvord's new book Resilience Builder Program for Children and Adolescents. I have placed it on my "to do" list and hope to include more information about it in a future blog. Since it provides strategies for teaching self control - it should be useful to clinicians as well as parents.

Concerns about heart disease and diabetes in children, secondary to increased caloric intake and decrease in exercise, may warrant more attention to parenting and teaching  self regulatory behaviors. Assessing this area of child development and providing ongoing anticipatory guidance to parents and day care centers is a start. For those of you in DNP programs, this may be an area for further research.