Among efforts to slim down kids or prevent them from becoming fat, one of the most popular tactics is to restrict energy dense foods — those are the “bad” foods high in calories. The thinking is that by filling kids up with low-calorie, low-fat, high fiber foods like fruits and vegetables, they will eat fewer calories and not get as big. This popular belief continues despite volumes of contrary evidence showing that children will naturally grow up to be a range of weights, shapes and sizes unrelated to their diets; and that the focus on “healthy eating,” restricting calories and fats, has harmful effects for growing children, both physically and emotionally.

So, it will come as no surprise that this recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition did not receive any attention in the media. Researchers tested to see if young children adjusted how much they ate depending on the calories in the foods. In other words, does letting kids eat high-fat, high-calorie foods mean they’ll consume more calories in their overall diet, or do they compensate and naturally regulate what they eat over time to the amounts of energy their bodies need?

Parents — who’ve tried to get a youngster who isn’t hungry to eat or to not feed a hungry one — could probably have answered that for them. But it seems every group of researchers needs to see it for themselves.