Why being bossy at the table is bad for your children’s health
Posted by Janet on Feb 8, 2012 in Parenting, Raising healthy eaters | 0 comments
Admit it, you’ve done this at least once. Your finicky toddler is dawdling through a meal or snack, and hasn’t eaten more than a bite or two of the food you’ve lovingly prepared. You watch as he pushes it around on the plate, and all you can think about is how hungry he’s going to be by late afternoon. The next thing you know, you’re enticing, cajoling, pleading, or even getting downright bossy. ”Eat, eat – it’s good for you!” ”You know you like it – just take one more bite!” ”Come on! If you don’t eat some more, you won’t grow up big and strong!” Does any of this sound familiar??
Pushing your kids to eat even “just one more bite” isn’t a good idea; even though your intentions are good. If your goal is to raise a healthy eater then one of the most important things you can do is to help your child recognize and respond to his body’s cues for hunger and fullness. When you push your child to eat more you’re essentially telling him to override the signals from his body. That sends a message that he should look to outside cues to decide how much to eat and when to stop eating.
A recent study added some evidence to this argument. It found that toddlers whose parents were bossy at the table were more likely to be overweight. There’s still a lot more research to be done in this area, but these findings do reinforce an important message. Parents need to back off and let kids decide for themselves when they are hungry and when they’ve had enough. If you structure your family’s eating around a predictable schedule of regular meals and snacks then your child knows he can come to the table to eat again soon. Perhaps he’ll be hungry then.
So, the next time your child says “I’ve had enough!” respect his decision. You’ll be taking one more step towards raising a healthy eater and you’ll find that meal and snack time will be more pleasant for both of you!
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