Using food as a bribe makes the child reduce the original desire to eat (Bixaby)
Most parents - especially millennials who have been indoctrinated into '90s food ideas and are still haunted by phrases like "Finish your plate if you want dessert" - may not realize the seriousness of some comments that may be psychologically harmful to their children.
Because children's relationship with food begins at home, experts recommend that parents, when raising their children at this age, help them make healthy food choices, but without passing on to them the same complexes that they may have suffered from when they were young and remained with them into adulthood.
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This is done by “starting to know how to introduce food to children, what not to say to them when talking about eating or body image at home, and what to say instead,” according to Dr. Raquel Katangian Ayala, director of a Canadian eating disorder treatment center, to the newspaper “Half.” American Post.
These are the 4 most dangerous comments that experts warned about:
This food is very bad for you
Research conducted in 2014 indicated that “parents tend to pressure children to eat or not eat certain foods,” so Erica Miller, a board-certified psychologist in New York, advises avoiding judging children’s food by describing it as “good” or “bad,” explaining Young children live in an ideal world and cannot understand that something should be prohibited.
Instead of classifying foods as “good” or “bad,” Miller recommends trying to avoid judgment and focus on the value that each food item provides, such as looking at carbohydrates from the perspective that they give the body energy, and fats from the perspective that they help the body absorb certain vitamins, and so on. .
Research conducted in 2014 indicated that parents tend to pressure children to eat or not eat certain foods (Pixabay)
This is what Katangian Ayala confirms by saying, “Understanding nutritional value helps to start changing the way we talk to children.” Whether it is carbohydrates or fats versus fruits or vegetables, they collectively provide us with adequate nutrition at the end of the day.
Although reviews published in 2020 found that restricting food intake may increase children’s risk of eating disorders and weight gain, certified nutritionist Jennifer Anderson says, “If your child has a tendency to eat sweets, for example, there is no harm in telling him that he will eat them another day, to give opportunity to hunger signals.” To encourage him to eat his food until he is satisfied.
Your belly has gotten big from eating sweets
Dr. Katanjian says, "Before you talk negatively about your or your child's body image - especially with regard to food - it is important to take into account the negative impact this will have on him, especially when he reaches adulthood and his body changes."
Not only that, but she advises, "If other adults in your child's world make such comments about body image or food restriction, you must intervene and put an end to it."
In turn, Jennifer Anderson brings us to the "root of the problem", which is the underlying internal bias towards weight "and all the resulting body image drama."
An analysis conducted by researchers at Yale University in 2018 revealed that “parents with a psychological eating disorder show greater concerns about their children’s weight and more monitoring of how they eat.” Thus, Anderson says, “the more the child tends to think about weight and believe that thinner is better, the better eating becomes for him.” "It's like a dramatic situation."
Parents should avoid labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” including sweets (Pixabay)
To address this matter, Anderson recommends talking to family members, making clear that commenting on a child’s body image is not welcome, and confronting any negative comments by saying, for example, “All bodies have different shapes and sizes, and you are a good person regardless of your body size.”
I'll give you muffins if you eat broccoli
Anderson warns against using food as a bribe for anything, and debunks the broccoli-and-cake bargain, saying, "It's like telling a child that broccoli is so bad that we'll give you a reward for eating it."
It is the same idea as “If you finish your plate, you will get dessert,” and other ideas that arose from parents’ desire for the child to devour what is offered to him, from chicken pieces to vegetables, without realizing that pressuring him to do so with the promise of a sweet reward is not the solution, because it makes the child It reduces the original desire to eat and increases the desire to eat sweets.
It is not realistic to expect a child to commit to eating 3 meals a day like adults (Pixabay)
Instead, Anderson recommends “encouraging children to listen to their fullness signals before thinking about serving dessert with their meal,” and explains that this method “helps eliminate the feeling of deprivation of dessert and makes it less tempting and rewarding.”
You can't eat anything now as it's almost dinner time
"It's not realistic to expect a child to stick to eating three meals a day like adults," explains Erica Miller, as children - especially those under 5 - burn calories faster than adults and need to replenish energy.
Because it may be difficult for them to eat a meal so close to their bedtime, Miller suggests giving them a snack in the afternoon or moving dinner forward to suit them.
Tips for parents
Katherine B. Pepper, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri and director of an eating disorder center, offers parents some tips to help children lead healthy lifestyles, such as:
Keep communication open
, by encouraging discussion of good health, eating habits, and body image in a positive, non-bullying way.
Avoid the culture of strict diets,
stop forcing children to eat everything on their plates or limit their food, and focus on making sure that the child is full or is still hungry.
Avoid labeling foods as “good” or “bad,”
including sweets, and instead include all foods in a healthy, balanced diet that the family eats together.
Encouraging positive self-esteem
and a healthy body image, by avoiding criticizing the child’s body, and looking for other qualities in him to talk about, such as his intelligence, superiority, kindness, or any other characteristic other than his appearance to help enhance his self-esteem.
Source: Al Jazeera + websites