Shocking method of beating a stuffed toy to trick children into eating goes viral

A shocking viral trend has seen parents violently beating their kids. Photo / @rudyhernandez_

A brutal method is being used by parents to convince their children to eat previously refused food.

The disturbing trend involves parents pretending to feed their children's stuffed toys before beating it to exemplify the punishment for failing to eat its food.

Video footage that has gone viral shows the unusual goal of the parents to spark fear in their children.

Social media users have begun sharing videos of this parenting method, leaving many people horrified by the aggression inherent in the act.

Twitter user Wild Cherry posted a video of the trend last week, which has now had over 18 million views.

In the video, the man is first seen trying to feed the child, who shakes his head and refuses the food.

The man then picks up the child's soft toy and pretends to feed the toy, before shaking it to imitate the child's refused actions.

Next, he begins to beat the toy violently with his fists.

The little boy appears to be frightened in the video as he watches the man beat the toy. Photo / @rudyhernandez_

After the child has seen what happens to the toy, the man picks up the spoonful of food again to feed the child, who now accepts the mouthful.

After watching what happened to the stuffed toy, the little boy decides to eat his food. Photo / @rudyhernandez_

Since the sharing of the video, Wild Cherry has accumulated over 6,000 comments from different users who have been horrified by the parenting technique.

"This exact behaviour has been proven scientifically to increase aggression in young people. We talk all the time about perpetuating a culture of violence with young people landing in jail. This is where it starts," said one user.