Making the Most of Meal time with your Kids
Simple steps to design or recover your meal time for kids
With kids being out of school because of COVID-19, you may feel like you’re having to feed your children 100 times a day. Ensuring that you create a meal schedule can help with structuring their meals and snacks on your time instead of centring it around theirs. In Ellyn Satter’s book, Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family, she discusses the ‘division of responsibility’ which states that as parents, you do the what, when, and where of feeding, and your child does the how much and the ‘whether’ of eating. You may be reading this and thinking, “How can I leave the decision of eating to my child– they will end up going hungry!” Just hear us out.
Food Choice and Preparation
As parents or guardians, you have the responsibility of providing nutritious food on the table. Include balanced meals and snacks that consist of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. For more information on creating balanced meals, check out our previous article here. If and when you introduce new foods, have food on the table that you know your kid likes such as bread or pasta. Allow your child to pick and choose from the foods you have laid out on the table without offering substitutes. Otherwise, your child will realise they can dictate what they are being fed when as parents this should be your responsibility.
Scheduled Meals and Snacks as a Family (When you Can)
Structured meal times benefits both you and your children. Firstly, structured meal time reassures your child that they will have the opportunity to eat every few hours. Secondly, it allows you to plan your day/ week ahead without having to wait for your kid to tell you when they are hungry and whip up food.
Ensure that you or their guardian can offer meals at reliable times with sit-down snack periods every 2 to 3 hours. A study looking into structured meal time has shown that it had a significant impact on lower levels of food fussiness. It also showed that children whose parents ate with their child and ate the same food as their child were easier to feed and refused fewer foods than children whose parents did not (1). Of course, for parents who work throughout the day this is something that’s unrealistic and that is okay. Families who are able to schedule 3 or more family meals a week have shown a reduced intake of unhealthy foods and disordered eating and an increased intake of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables (2,3). A family dinner can mean just two family members eating together.
Create a pleasant environment
Start by removing distractions such as phones, toys, and turning off the television. The purpose of family meals is more than just eating together but a chance to connect and to share the time. Check in with your kids and ask questions. “What did you learn in math today?” “What activities did you do?” “Share one positive thing from today.”
Stay away from topics that you know may trigger your children in a negative way. Don’t bring up an upcoming test, or if they had a bad day/ fight with a friend. These of course are important issues and need to be addressed but these are also topics that can increase their stress or anxiety, causing an increase or decrease in appetite.
Don’t let your child graze
Although it may seem easier for you to allow your kids to continuously help themselves to food throughout the day, it can disrupt their ability to regulate their food intake and food acceptance. Children who graze are more likely to both under and over eat (4). As your child is grazing throughout the day it can mean they’re never truly hungry when it’s time for one of their meals and therefore not as interested in the food and less willing to try something new. The twist here is that if you’re a grazer, this will be a habit you need to curb too. Your kid will want to eat what, when, and where you do.
What if my child isn’t hungry/ won’t eat when I’ve set a meal time?
If you’re now adopting this into your home it will take a bit of time for your kids to get accustomed to it. However, consistency in offering them food reassures your child they will always be fed. If your child comes to the table not feeling hungry let them know that’s fine and that they don’t have to eat; just sit with the family for a while. If they are asking for snacks outside of your ‘schedule’ let them know that it’s not time for a snack right now but you will be eating in ‘x’ number of minutes.
References
- Powell, F., Farrow, C., Meyer, C., & Haycraft, E. (2017). The importance of mealtime structure for reducing child food fussiness. Maternal and Child Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12296
- Hammons, A. J., & Fiese, B. H. (2011). Is frequency of shared family meals related to the nutritional health of children and adolescents? In Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-1440
- Larson, N. I., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Hannan, P. J., & Story, M. (2007). Family Meals during Adolescence Are Associated with Higher Diet Quality and Healthful Meal Patterns during Young Adulthood. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2007.06.012
- Conceição, E. M., Pinheiro, J., Félix, S., Ramalho, S., & Gonçalves, S. (2020). Grazing in children: associations with child’s characteristics and parental feeding practices. Eating and Weight Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00866-y
Information this week by: Kirstyn Church, an Associate Nutritionist with Nutrition Consulting Services. Tru Valu Supermarket is one of the leading grocery chains in Trinidad and Tobago with five stores and the best customers. Have a question? Email us truvalusupermarkets@gmail.com.
Always consult your GP or health practioner before making dietary changes. This information is for knowledge purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
