Teaching kids moderation and how to listen to their bodies

[AllyB]

Not sure if this is totally 'on topic', but it kind of is....

My 9 year old daughter likes to eat.  She especially likes to eat junk food and desserts (which is not surprising!).  When we feed her a compliant dinner, she will eat it till she's full and then stop. But if she's eating something non-compliant (like crackers, potato chips or bread), she can't seem to moderate what she eats.  She will just keep eating it and asks for more and more.

 

In general, we don't keep non-compliant foods in the house.  So it's not a big deal at home.  But when we go to other people's houses, it's harder.  And people try to be good hosts and offer as much as she wants.

 

So how do you balance teaching moderation without creating food issues?

 

On a funny note, I have been teaching her to read labels.  I mentioned that foods with a long list of ingredients (in general) weren't as healthy.  So over the holiday, we were at grandma's house.  She brought over a bag of potato chips and said "Look mom, only three ingredients!  Can I have some!"

[MeadowLily]

http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/school-food

 

Jamie Oliver is a great resource for teaching kids, parents, schools how to eat.    Scroll through the menu on the right.   

 

"Obesity increases our kids’ chances of poor health in adulthood, as they

are more likely to suffer from medical conditions such as heart disease,

diabetes and some cancers.

 

Meanwhile, children under 12 are already showing signs of high blood

pressure, high cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes and liver disease.

 

Until 10 years ago, Type 2 diabetes accounted for less than 3% of all

cases of onset diabetes in adolescents. Now it is 45%.

 

Poor health and obesity is more likely to affect kids from disadvantaged

backgrounds.

 

Education

3 million children now eat a school lunch every day and these figures

have continued to rise for the past three years.

 

18.5 % of primary school children and 15.4 % of secondary school

children were eligible for free school meals in January 2010.

 

A school meal accounts for at least one-third of a child’s daily nutritional

intake. For some children, it is the only nutritious meal that they will eat

all day.

 

 

Teach kids about food

Many of the kids I have worked with in schools or the young adults I see

coming through the Apprentice Programme at Fifteen can tell you about drugs

and alcohol but they can’t recognise even the most common vegetables, let

alone how or where they are grown or how to cook them. This is because they

don’t learn enough about food at school and, consequently, if they don’t know

what it is, then it’s really tough to get them to eat it!

 

The “nudge” factor: Giving children the chance to touch, smell, prepare and

taste food through practical cooking lessons encourages them to have a

positive relationship with food and increases their willingness to try new

foods. This can then have a knock-on or “nudge” effect on their decision to

have a school lunch, potentially increasing school meal take-up."

[ShannonM816]

Not sure if this is totally 'on topic', but it kind of is....

My 9 year old daughter likes to eat.  She especially likes to eat junk food and desserts (which is not surprising!).  When we feed her a compliant dinner, she will eat it till she's full and then stop. But if she's eating something non-compliant (like crackers, potato chips or bread), she can't seem to moderate what she eats.  She will just keep eating it and asks for more and more.

 

 

It's not just her. That's the way many non-compliant, heavily processed foods are for almost everyone. It's discussed in It Starts With Food, but basically, scientists figured out the things that make us crave food, and then engineered food-like substances to appeal to us. So they've taken what, in natural foods, would be signals that what we're eating is safe and good for us -- sweet, salty, fatty -- and taken them to the next level, making them so good that our brains keep wanting them. These processed foods don't have the signals that exist in natural, whole foods that tell us we're full and should stop eating. As adults, we know about things like calories and fat grams and heart disease and weight problems and mostly can keep ourselves from overeating these things, most of the time, but even knowing what we know, if we're not careful, most of us can polish off a bag of chips or box of donuts pretty easily.

 

I don't have kids, so I'm hesitant to offer advice on this one. But I do think that if, most of the time she's at home, eating compliant food, overeating processed foods occasionally at someone else's house is not too bad -- she's still probably doing better than many her age. You might try, sometime when you're at home and not currently confronted with the foods you'd like her not to eat as much of, discussing different foods, and explaining why you choose to eat an apple rather than a cupcake, or vegetables rather than potato chips most of the time. Focus on the nutrition in the whole foods, and how they have more vitamins and minerals and other stuff that's really good for you. And mention how you feel better (if it's true) when you have fruits and vegetables rather than cupcakes and chips. 

[Sundial]

What about just explaining to her the concept of addiction and that when something makes you want more and more of it (especially if it is bad for you), it means that the substance is controlling you. And that you either how to decide how much you are going to indulge in it and be strict about it (for instance 2 pieces of bread), or else, if you realize you can't control it, decline the addictive substance completely.  

(Many people talk about carbohydrate addiction which sounds about right here.) 

 

She's probably too young to act on that consistently, but encouraging someone to learn to self-monitor for addictive reactions to anything and to self-correct is a useful lifelong skill of self-awareness to try to cultivate.

 

It also helps take away some of the blame and guilt often associated with eating today. 

[A_Whole_New_Me]

How does she feel afterwards?  I know that when I'm eating healthy, and then go on a junkfood binge, the aftermath is bad enough to kick me back on my healthy eating track.  I'd try to open the lines of communication for her to really be aware of how her body feels afterwards.

 

And I think that's totally normal.  There wouldn't be nearly so many obese people if it was easy to stop eating unhealthy food.  I think it's great that you want to help her listen to her body's satiety signals, and realize when they're awry. 

[SpinSpin]

I grew up with a mom who was way overboard with calorie restriction and I spent my younger years 6th grade--12th grade living on basically 900cal a day. Mom had a diabetic exchange list and that was what I was on. She was a huge believer in the thinner you are, the better and she was always hounding me to loose another 5 pounds and telling me how much better I would look if I did. Mom was 5'7 and 98lbs for most of her adult life (until she had a heart attack and went to 140 after because she couldn't smoke anymore) 

 

Anyway, my happiest days were when I could eat what I wanted--few and far between--and when I became an adult and hard times would happen, I would eat because it was my escape. When I became a mother, I allowed my children to eat until they were satisfied--always provided good meals and when they were done, they were (are) done. No pressure to eat beyond their bodies set points. I never discussed weight control or weight loss with my daughter, only stressed good eating choices, and she has never had a weight issue, unlike I did. For my little guy, if he gets hungry between meals, I make a micro mini meal (he is three :-)) like a few baby carrots, homemade ranch dip and a few bites of meat. We are struggling a bit with meals as he has discovered it is a way to control the world around him. But still when he is done, he is done. What about having her have a portion of what ever off plan food she wants, and that is all she can have? Or ask her to wait a bit and ask her how her tummy feels about having more? Maybe just having her focus on how she feels inside might be enough to make the difference.