Kids cravings stress you out?
Do your kids always ask for the same “junk” food? In these moments, it can feel tempting to begin to limit these foods, but research indicates that this has the opposite impact. Restricting kids' food intake has been shown to increase the desire for these forbidden foods, decrease kids' trust in their bodies, increase eating in the absence of hunger, experience shame when eating off-limits food, and set children up to be more likely to develop an eating disorder. Not the outcome any of us want, so what do we do instead? Here are some suggestions:
Serve them more: Help normalize and reduce the “magical” feeling these foods hold by offering them regularly. Research shows that habituation (having foods frequently) decreases the obsession and compulsive feelings to eat. Some ways to do this:
Set up consistent meal and snack times: Having planned eating times (approximately every 2-3 hours) helps kids know when they can expect to eat and sets them up for success to tune into their hunger.
Offer these high-valued foods regularly: From your schedule, select a meal, snack, or both when you offer this food each day (or most days, there is always flexibility!). Allow your child to have this food with the meal so they can eat it when they want and it isn’t seen as a reward for finishing their other food.
When possible, offer unlimited quantities: Allowing your child to eat as much as they want is a great way to show them you trust them with their body and help them learn self-control.
Utilize nutrition by addition: Pair these fun foods with more nutritionally dense to increase overall satisfaction, without expectations or rules of what to eat. Initially, they may eat only the “fun” food and that is ok. This will decrease as they realize their favorite foods aren’t going away.
Serve them without judgment: When you serve these foods, do so in a way that doesn’t imply conditional permission. This means avoiding:
Discussing the food’s lack of nutritional value
Commenting on the amount they are eating
Suggesting they’ve had enough while they are still actively eating
Pushing for them to eat nutritious food more
Keeping tabs on what they are eating (they will sense this!)
Set up an undistracted eating environment: It is hard to know when to stop when you’re distracted by TV, phone, homework, etc. As much as possible, set up meals and snacks in environments where your child can focus solely on eating to better stay in touch with their body cues.
Allow for teachable moments: If they eat past fullness or to the point that it doesn’t feel good, rather than jumping to “I told you so” mode, get curious with them about what they learned. What do they think caused them not to feel well? What could they do differently next time? Experiences are often the best teachers and a tummy ache can help us learn how to eat for our body.
Remember to model: You demonstrating a positive relationship with all foods is ultimately the BEST way to teach your kids to do the same!
This process can feel uneasy and scary, especially given the fear propaganda associated with diet culture. Remember that you are choosing to invest in your kids' healthy relationship with food for life! Follow me on Instagram at @foodwarnomore to learn more tips on raising kids to resist diet culture.
