I have been getting a lot of questions from friends about
feeding their children; particularly on the important topics of healthy eating
and weight. With the obesity epidemic in
full-swing combined with our own experiences with weight and image growing up Generation
X and Y, along with an awareness of the damage that can be done if these topics
are not handled correctly has young parents unsure of what to do at times. These friends that I know love their children
so very much. Here is the excellent question
I received recently:
“I am looking for ways
to keep my daughter engaged in a healthy lifestyle, mainly eating habits. I don't like telling her ‘if you don't want
to eat healthy then you don't need anything’, but I find myself going there.
I have tried to explain to her about all the benefits of eating healthy, but
it's like everything I say to her goes in one ear and out the other. Do you
have any suggestions on how I can get my point across and make it stick? I
understand she's a kid and naturally kids want to eat junk, but I'm hoping if I
raise her awareness early enough she will avoid the mistakes I made and avoid
the yo-yo weight issues I have faced my whole adult life.”
I think it is important to understand that kids have
different motivations and views regarding food, eating, and weight than adults
do. There has to be a balance between
eating “healthy” and exploring, enjoying, and experiencing foods as a
child/young adult. Of COURSE kids want
to eat junk food – all humans do. We
have a natural affinity for sugar and fat because our bodies want to survive
during lean times. Except for many of
us, there are no lean times.
One thing that does not work with children or teens as it
may with adults is encouraging change by using long-range consequences (
You can prevent heart disease! You don’t want to have high cholesterol!)
because they cannot relate; it means nothing.
For many children, especially those involved in sports, using an example
that relates to them specifically (
You
will have more energy for soccer practice; You will have the protein to build
muscles for gymnastics) could be more helpful. Children and adolescents are very immediate
and concrete thinkers and this will be the best way to approach nutrition
education at this age. Think about how
junk-food is marketed towards your kids; it’s full of colors, characters and
FUN. This is how we need to represent
healthier options to them…except there’s very little of that type of marketing
going on out there right now for broccoli. There was an article in the Wall Street
Journal a couple days ago:
Superhero Support for Healthy Eating. Check it
out.
One of the best resources available on the subject remains a
Registered Dietitian named
Ellyn Satter who writes about childhood
nutrition. She has a book called
“Your child’s weight: helping without harming”
that many people find informative. Basically,
she talks about the division of responsibility for eating: the parent is responsible for providing
healthful food to the child and for setting the when/where of meal-time and
children are responsible for choosing what and how much they eat. There are also some great, legitimate resources
for parents out there – check out some of these links:
I strongly believe we need to avoid at all costs making food
and eating about
weight for our
children. As many of you know, I was
appalled at the children’s dieting book that came out in the fall of this year “
Maggie Goes on a Diet” which simply sent the wrong message to kids on the topic of weight. As
soon as we equate popularity, success, or happiness with weight status, we have
done our children a disservice and set them up for a life-time of dieting and
self-confidence issues. Parents need to be sure that they aren't passing any of their own struggles with weight or body image to their children. Studies show
that parents teaching through example is the best way to approach the topic:
Families are key for modeling food
choices, healthy eating and leisure activities for their children. Parents influence children’s environment by
choosing nutrient-rich foods, having family meals (including breakfast),
offering regular snacks, and spending time together in physical activity, all
of which can be critical in overweight prevention…Parents exerting too much
control over their child’s food intake or promoting a restrictive diet may
cause children to be less able to self-regulate and more likely to overeat when
the opportunity is available.
(Mahan,
Escott-Stump, Krause’s Food and Nutrition Therapy, 12th ed 2008)
Ironically, there was a really great article in
“ScienceDaily” two days ago about a study that was done on low-income families that
showed better success with parents who led through example instead of punishing
or rewarding when it comes to healthy eating.
"Mothers should stop forcing or restricting their kids'
eating"…be sure to read it.
The best advice I have on this topic is to involve your kids in the
cooking process! They need the education
and ownership in order to make healthy choices a habit. Take them to the grocery store, have them pick
out a recipe to try, get them chopping and stirring. If they are involved in the process, they may
be more likely to consume these foods that they helped make. Gardening has proven especially helpful in
for kids to get more excited about the healthy food they can eat.
Kids and adolescents are going to experiment
with eating and they’re going to want to break the rules sometimes. Also, keep in mind that their tastes are
constantly changing and developing. Just
because they don’t like something one day doesn’t mean that they won’t like it
the next. From what I have learned, the
best thing parents can do is:
- Focus on physical activity (not dieting or
restricting foods)
- Involve children in the process of shopping for
and cooking foods
- Set a good example as a parent with eating,
activity, and healthy body-image (NO diet talk)
- Continue to offer healthy foods, even if kids
aren’t eating them.
Good luck and great parenting…..
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Unfortunately, we did not “BYOB” but the atmosphere is so
amiable that the table of out-of-town businessmen next to us shared some
Stellas they had brought in exchange for information on a fun bar to visit
after dinner. Rami swore at them
lovingly up and down for this: “You ****
****! What do you think you’re
doing? Stop bothering my customers. You love my food? You love it – I know you love it because it’s
the best.” 
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