Intuitive eating is a principle we should all follow, but it's not always easy. In today's world we are faced with many challenges surrounding food and mealtimes, especially with our little ones. With increased food costs and busy schedules, it can be difficult to meet the needs of our picky eaters and their wavering food preferences. I am here to tell you that you are not alone in this constant power struggle, and you do not have to feel discouraged, exhausted, and frustrated at the dinner table.
Thank goodness feeding practices have evolved over the years to help parents raise kids to have a positive relationship with food and their bodies. As a registered dietitian who works primarily with the pediatric population I am fighting for more parents, physicians, and communities to look past weight stigmas and pay more attention to weight inclusion, physical hunger/fullness cues and food satisfaction. Intuitive/mindful eating is just that.
Intuitive eating is focused on our natural relationship with food moving away from the external pressures and influences. Intuitive eating consists of 10 principles and was created to get people away from negative cycles of dieting and disordered eating. Click the link below to read more in depth on each principle.
The 10 principles are:
Reject diet mentality
Honor your hunger
Make peace with food
Challange the food police
Discover the satisfaction factor
Feel your fullness
Cope with your emotions with kindness
Respect your body
Feel the difference with movement
Honor your health with gentle nutrition
Why is it so important that we teach our kids to be intuitive eaters? This is where it all begins. Kid's relationship with food is influenced by culture, family, social media, and their peers around them. Kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit and they pick up on the big things and the small things around them. As parents our job is to guide our children and help them tune into and trust their bodies...but don't forget love their bodies too. This means avoiding diet talk and negative comments about food and bodies around our children and shifting to a more neutral attitude. When we make comments such as "good vs. bad", "unhealthy vs. healthy", "fattening vs less fattening" and so on, our kids pick up on that negative language even at the early ages of two, three, and four years old. So, we have to reflect on our own relationship with food to remove any expectations or bias we might have for our children.
I believe it is important to teach our kids to be mindful inside of the eating experience. This means using their senses throughout the process and realizing that movement (physical activity) should be about feeling good, food is more than calories, providing judgement free (safe spaces) for gentle nutrition, respecting their body, and loving their body. Food should not be stressful; it should be an enjoyable time to spend with your family or friends and talk about the day. It's important to eliminate the external factors that affect our perception on food but also be aware of the pressures they can have around food.
So, I encourage you to look at your relationship with food and take a second... What can you do to improve that? The 10 principles can be broken down into a simple ABC approach to teaching our kids about intuitive eating.
A: Accept
It is not your job to get your kids to eat. However, it is your job to provide nutritious meals and snacks every day. It is helpful to do this on a schedule; by providing structured meals in a pressure-free way kids can decide whether to eat or not eat while listening to their bodies on what is the right amount for them. So, try to shy away from using language such as " two more bites" or "you cannot leave the table until you eat your broccoli". This encourages kids to listen to external cues rather than trusting their body. Try to keep language neutral at the dinner table. Provide your kids a variety of foods (always with one 'safe food you know they'll eat) and let them choose what they feel comfortable eating.
B: Be Present
You should not have to dread meals with your kids due to anticipated stress, frustration, and anxiety surrounding meals. Often times we as parents enable this behavior when trying to prevent it because we are just trying to do our "job". This allows more room for the picky eating to take over by putting more focus on food itself. This is not always easy, especially if your child is not eating well, but it can be beneficial in the long run to take the focus off food and let them know the dinner table is a positive space. It is also important to remove distractions from the dinner table and focus on the moment together.
C: Consistency
This principle goes along with having structured meals and snacks so kids can honor their hunger/fullness cues and not graze all day. Make sure you are serving at least one item during family dinner that you know your child likes and will eat. Provide variety and balance after that. Remember it can take up to 15 tries of a certain food for a child to accept it... so don't just call it quits after one attempt.
Take aways!
Parents, you provide 'what, where, and when'. Let your child listen to their body on 'how much'. Make mealtimes a safe space for your children to get in touch with their senses and develop a healthy relationship with food. Try to focus more on the internal connection with food and body rather than external pressures to fit in.
Interested in learning more about intuitive eating, need help with picky eaters, or general nutrition counseling come visit us at Panhandle Nutrition Therapy.
-Bryleigh RD, LD
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