Forcing your child to eat everything on their plate could fuel obesity, experts have warned.

This warning comes after a new poll for the British Nutrition Foundation revealed that over a third of parents always or often make their children eat everything on their plate.

A survey conducted on behalf of Slimming World earlier this month found that one in five children in Ireland are overweight or living with obesity.

On Newstalk Breakfast, dietitian and Eat Well founder Sarah Keogh said this pressure “can be a factor”.

“Obesity has so many different causes but one of the problems with always forcing a child to clear the plate is it makes them ignore their natural sensation of feeling full,” she said.

“We've a huge issue, certainly in Ireland, where we very often give children portions of food that are too big, and then, you know, in some cases, we force them then to eat that so their natural regulation is getting overruled.

“I know when I work with adults, one of the things that we often try and do is get them to start paying attention to that natural, full feeling and to drop this idea that you have to clear the plate.

A child eating a school dinner. Image: NorthScape / Alamy Stock Photo

Ms Keogh said there is “a little bit of trust” involved with children saying they are full - but there are also noticeable signs. 

“What you're looking at is have they eaten sort of a reasonable amount of each thing on the plate and are they finished that they're not looking for food five minutes later,” she said.

“So if the child just eats three mouthfuls [and] walks away and then they're coming back looking for something else [five minutes] later, okay, probably didn't eat enough.

“But most kids, if they've kind of eaten maybe half or two-thirds of what's on the plate, they're pretty much done.

“You see it in kids where they slow down, where they're kind of starting to just mess with the food on the plate a little bit - that's usually just a sign that they're finished and you can just let it go there.”

A little girl refusing to eat her broccoli. Image: Alamy

Ms Keogh said that parents need to re-examine the portion sizes they are giving children.

“I would really encourage parents who are making kids clear their plate to have a good look at portion sizes,” she said.

“Safe food had a fantastic campaign there a few years ago looking at the fact that we tend to give children more food than they need.

“A five-year-old needs less than half the dinner of an adult, you know.

“So it's really about checking those portion sizes before you're sort of making them sort of finish with it."

Ms Keogh said when kids get to the end of a meal and they’re saying they are really full, you can “just let it go” at that.

Child eating broccoli at dinner table. Image: Alamy