Ep: #39 - How To Encourage Your Children To Eat Healthily Without Encouraging Restriction

Faye Casement Author

Mar 22, 2023 |

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Do you ever find yourself worrying about your children's diet and health?

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Do you worry about all the processed food that is available, their tendency to want chocolate, sweets, crisps, and other "junk" food, or maybe you are worried they will fall into the diet trap due to being surrounded by diet culture and fad diets on social media or what impact this is having on them?

As parents, it is normal to be concerned about our children's health and well-being. You want the best for them. You want them to be happy, healthy, and living their best lives, at all times!

When it comes to food, health, weight, well-being, and body image though it can feel like a really tricky area to navigate.

On the one hand, you want them to be healthy, you want to encourage healthy eating but it can seem so hard to get them to eat "healthy" food, and then you have to decide how far you go in trying to influence them and how?

Maybe you are like I was and concerned about what message you are sending your children after years of trying to lose weight. My daughter was one of the reasons I picked the method I did.

The aim of this week's show is to encourage discussion around how we influence our children's relationship with food and themselves.

I put together a back-to-school workbook for busy parents, which could also help you with this area of parenting too so grab it now before I make it paid next month.

Overview

The first thing to say before we get into it is, parenting can be a tough gig. There are no rights and wrongs, we are all a construct of our upbringings and influences in our lives and we are all universally, every single one of us, doing the best we can at any given moment with what we have been given whether that be by nature or nurture.

Nothing I say today is intended to bring up guilt or shame but if this comes up for you at any time try to recognise it. Recognise if something is pushing a button. Or maybe it is resonating with you? We are all entitled to our own thoughts and feelings so use this as an opportunity to check in and think about your internal stories.

You can then decide do you want to keep these things or change them.

If you want to change those stories and change the stories of those around you including your children, the choice is yours and I have tools as a life coach that can help you to do that if you wish.

Coaching is by its nature forward thinking. It is about identifying the present and deciding how you want to move forward.

To take you from where you are to optimal.

Sometimes though it is helpful to go back into our past a little to come forward.

Side note on this though only do so if it is safe for you to do so. Coaching is not a substitute for mental health treatment if this is required but it can complement it.

I like to look at this through the lens of past, present, and future and would encourage you to consider doing this for yourself and your children.

Before you can really help others you have to really get to know yourself first.

• Have a think about how your parental figures brought you up and the impact this has had on you?

• What were the values instilled in you by your parents, environmental influences like school, social media/media etc about health, weight, and body image?

• Think about what influenced your life, well-being, and weight journey.

• What things have promoted behaviours that serve you?

• What things have promoted behaviours that do not serve you?

From there you can see how this is shaping the present and decide if you want to keep it for the future.

The reality is you cannot really control another human being. You are not in their shoes, you do not know what they are thinking or feeling and so it is hard to really understand or control another.

You can only ever control your response to them or the environment. So by bringing more awareness to how you parent through self-reflection and a non-judgemental attitude. You can make small shifts that could have a big impact on the lives of your littles and not so littles.

We all have the potential to be leaders and influencers. The question is what type of style do you have and does it serve you and others?

With children especially, they are little sponges, you are their role model so if you want something for your children you need to consider what you are showing them. What are they learning from you, day in and day out?

So what is healthy eating for children?

Before we can really get into how you encourage your children you need to really identify what healthy eating actually is.

Maybe you think it is making them eat their vegetables. Limiting their snacks. Making them drink water instead of sugary drinks.

These are all things to consider but there is so much more to it than just what they eat and how they move. I would like today to encourage you to consider what healthy eating means for your children’s, bodies, minds, and souls. Just like I encourage you to.

For me, healthy eating for children is about trying to provide them with and encouraging them sensitively to eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods that will help them to grow and develop as well as an encouraging movement but MOST importantly, it is not doing it in a way that impacts their relationship with food or themselves.

Does it really example, help your child, in the long run, to 'make' them eat their greens? To 'make' them drink their milk? I have a friend who cannot eat carrots as a result of this and my mum hates drinking milk on its own and doesn't have cereal after having to drink it at school. If we try to force anyone to do anything it will bring up resistance and likely resentment.

It is probably why bribery has been an age-old parent technique. Who hasn't said to a child eat your broccoli and you can have pudding? Again, not trying to shame here I did it too, but this has the potential of creating the concept of good and bad food in the child’s mind. It starts to form a habit also that following a meal there should be pudding or that sweet food is a reward.

I think it is important if working on weight loss and or if we have concerns about our own health and well-being to consider what messages this and our chosen methods send as they are watching it all.

What are the benefits of helping your child eat in a more mindful way for both children and parents?

One of the benefits of helping your child to eat more mindfully is that it can help set them up for a lifetime of good health. If they develop healthy eating habits when they are young, they are more likely to stick with them as they get older and hopefully avoid the traps we did.

Helping your child to eat in a healthy way can also boost their immune system, help them to focus and concentrate better in school, and make them less likely to get sick. Encouraging mindfulness, teaching them coaching etc can help their confidence and mental health as they grow older.

It can also be beneficial for you too as your desire to help and encourage your children can help you with accountability, as you too follow the principles.

It can help your relationship with your children as you grow together in the process.

Tips on how to encourage mindful eating in children

Here are a few tips that may help:

• Encourage them to eat mindfully by teaching them about the different senses we use when eating. For example, smell, sight, taste, touch, and sound. Make it fun!

• Talk to them about how their bodies feel so they can identify when they are truly physically hungry and when they may have had enough.

• One way to get children to eat nutrient-rich food is to provide them with a variety of options. If your child doesn't like a certain food, keep trying to introduce it to them. You may need to be patient, as it can sometimes take a while for children to develop a taste for certain foods.

• Let them make their own decisions about what they eat, within reason.

• Encourage them to be mindful of their body and what it needs.

• Help them to identify and talk about their emotions so they find positive ways to express themself rather than feeling a need to turn to food. If you learn how to coach yourself for example you can coach them and teach them how to self-coach.

• Another way to encourage children to eat healthily is to set a good example for them. If you eat mindfully yourself, your children are likely to follow your lead.

• It's also important not to use food as a punishment or reward. For example, don't tell your child that they can't have dessert unless they eat their vegetables. This can create unhealthy associations with food and make it difficult for them to make healthy choices in the future.

• Be mindful about the language you use about weight, food and body image. For example, instead of saying "I need to lose weight," try "I'm working on being healthy." Eating should be a pleasurable experience for both children and adults. It's a good opportunity to bond with your child and teach them about the importance of good nutrition. Help them to look at things like weight and food in a more positive light. Encourage them to identify their strengths, in body, mind, and soul. Let them know that everyone is different and that's okay.

• Finally, try not to get discouraged if your child doesn't seem interested in eating healthy foods at first. Just keep introducing new options and setting a positive example, and eventually, they will come around.

Conclusion

Helping your child to develop healthy eating habits can be a difficult but rewarding journey. It is important to be patient and to keep the lines of communication open, as you work together towards a common goal. There are many benefits to helping your child eat in a healthy way, both for them and for you. So don't hesitate to get started today!

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Categories: : children, healthy eating, parenting