As parents, we often find ourselves finding a delicate balance between encouraging healthy eating habits and respecting our child’s appetite.
A common mealtime dilemma is whether to insist that a child finish a plate of food.
A new survey for the British Nutrition Foundation found that 37% of parents always or often force their children to eat everything on their plate, with a further 23% sometimes insisting that children Eliminate what is given to them.
As the debate about healthy eating and portion sizes continues, we talked to some experts about what parents should and shouldn’t do to help their kids develop a positive relationship with food. I got help…
What are the consequences of forcing a child to eat everything on their plate?
“children Those who have to finish everything on their plate all the time, may have difficulty recognizing hunger and fullness cues, and control around food can lead to emotional and eating difficulties later on. can lead to,” says Dr. John Brunton, clinical director of eating disorders at the Mental Health Care Provider Priory.
Fiona Yassin, Family Psychotherapist and Founder The Wave Clinicagrees and adds: “Using phrases like ‘clean your plate’ or ‘just one more bite’ can be difficult.
“If you force your child to overeat, you are forcing him to ignore his natural brain receptors and overeat.”
How might this affect their relationship with food?
Parents’ words and actions can greatly influence children’s eating behavior later in life.
“Of course, parents and caregivers don’t mean to harm their children in their everyday words, but it’s important to recognize the impact words and actions can have on a child,” says Yasin. , who also specialize in eating disorders. “As they progress into adulthood, their behavior, confidence and identity can be negatively impacted.”
Introducing results at mealtimes can be difficult.
“If there are other areas of strong control and punishment around non-compliance in other areas of family life, it’s more likely to lead to emotional problems later in life,” Brenton explains. “Whereas if relationships are good, portion sizes are adequate and varied, helping children develop their individual choices as they get older, it won’t have much of an impact.”
Meanwhile, Yasin also believes that phrases like ‘eat it or you won’t grow big and strong’ should be avoided.
“The best purpose of food is to ‘grow big and strong,’ you’re reinforcing the message that food has only one purpose. So children may believe that food is not for enjoyment,” “Also, this emotion can make a child feel like a failure if they don’t eat everything on their plate,” says Yasin.
Should we trust kids when they say they’re full?
This can be really hard to do if a child is really full or doesn’t want to eat.
“If a child is skipping small amounts of different foods, it’s more likely that they’re full and it makes sense not to push them to finish,” says Brunton. “However, if they are skipping large amounts of important nutrients in the diet it can be a problem, so try to understand why they are skipping meals and find a way to get them to eat a balanced diet. Get help.”
What should parents do instead?
Encourage them to eat until satisfied.
“Let your baby listen to their natural cues so they don’t throw off their body’s rhythm,” advises Yasin. “It is important for parents to teach their children to eat until they are satisfied, not until their plates are empty.
“The idea is to encourage children to recognize and respect the satisfying feeling of being full.”
Create a calm environment
“Stress Eating around mealtimes can make eating problems worse and gives children a sense of ‘food power’ in getting parental attention,” Brunton highlighted. “It’s important to try and approach the problem calmly and listen to what your child is saying.”
Introduce them to new foods, but don’t expect them to like everything.
“Young children need to be taught healthy, varied foods, but you also have to look at their individual tastes,” says Brunton. “It’s good to try new foods but very strong flavors can be difficult for some children to tolerate.
“It may be better to eat a reasonable amount of food that they enjoy, to be full and healthy, rather than to expect them to like everything.”
Introduce choices gradually.
“Choice helps people develop a sense of identity, learning who they are, what they like, and being able to choose the food you eat can be part of that,” Brunton said. highlighted. “Very young children need strong guidance on how to develop healthy eating patterns, and once learned, your child can be handed over to the monarchy and given more control.
“Allowing children to participate as they wish and winking seems appropriate, and may be a good way to approach the process.”