Aimee Walker
A psychologist is urging parents to stop kissing their children on the lips.
Many celebrities have taken to social media and uploaded images of themselves kissing their kids on the lips.
Previously, chef Gino D’Acampo has been forced to hit back at trolls who criticised him over such a snap.
He responded: “To all the haters out there… Yes, I still kiss my principessa on the lips, get over it and get a life.”
This kid doesn’t approve of his parents kissing. Watch below…
While David Beckham also ignited a debate over the matter when he posted an image of himself kissing his 10-year-old daughter Harper on the lips.
“Why do you kiss your daughter on the lips?” one person asked the former footballer. “It’s weird and inappropriate.”
Another said: “Wait, what!? Why do families kiss on the lips?”
Actress Hilary Duff also sparked anger when she posted a snap of herself kissing her son Luca on the lips.
Although the photo racked up thousands of likes, many people took to the comments and told the A Cinderella Story actress it wasn’t appropriate.
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Charlotte Reznick is a licensed child educational psychologist, former UCLA associate clinical professor of psychology and author.
She’s warned that these innocent gestures could have serious implications.
The author tells The Sun that it might leave children confused, especially if they associate kissing with s*xual or romantic activity.
Reznick explains that it might cause a child to think: “If mommy kisses daddy on the mouth and vice versa, what does that mean, when I, a little girl or boy, kiss my parents on the mouth.”
Many psychologists have derided this suggestion and have argued that it will cause no harm.
Clinical psychologist Sally-Anne McCormack also tells the outlet: “There is absolutely no way that kissing a young child on the lips is confusing for them in any way.”
The expert goes on to say that is like saying ‘breastfeeding is confusing’.
However, there is the issue of passing on bacteria.
One dentist is advising parents to refrain from kissing their children on the lips before their baby teeth have developed.
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Dr Richard Marques, a celebrity dentist at Wimpole Street Dental in London, tells The Independent: “Baby teeth have a different type of enamel and dentine to adult teeth.”
He says that as well as spreading colds and other infections through saliva transfer, it can also ’cause decay of baby teeth’ and ‘affect the soft tissues and gums before the baby teeth have developed’.
Dr Marques explains that ‘children have weaker immune systems’.
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