Help your child eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re satisfied
When kids say they’re hungry, it can be hard to believe them.
Are they really hungry?
Or are they something else?
Bored? Distracted? Emotional? Obsessed with food?
Today’s kids are snacking like never before. According to a 2021 study that measured snacking behaviors among children aged 12 years using wearable devices where they could actually see what and how often kids were eating, researchers found that about 8 snacks per day were eaten, 5 of which were “indulgent” foods like chips and cookies.
Added to that are rising health problems in children and teens, like type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, which are associated with carrying excess body fat, and this impacts one out of every five kids and teens.
Many of our kids live in an environment where food is readily available and this isn’t helping.
Nearly everywhere you go, food appears to ease social interactions, reward kids for good behavior or an accomplishment, or is just part of the natural landscape (hello, school, after-school activities and church… I’m talking to you!)
So it can be hard to hear the child who whines for food, scavenges in the pantry for snacks, or never seems satisfied after eating. Especially when the reality is…they just ate!
When Kids Can’t Recognize True Hunger and Fullness, They Overeat (or Undereat)
As a pediatric dietitian, mom, and author of the new book, Kids Thrive at Every Size, I know that kids who cannot recognize their fullness or satisfaction after eating run into trouble with regulating the amounts and types of food they eat.
I also know that kids can be over-sensitive to their hunger, thinking they’re hungry rather than feeling it. And they can be insensitive to hunger, too, never having an appetite for food.
There is bad and good news here.
The bad news is that children who cannot recognize the internal appetite cues that tell them when to stop eating will likely overeat. And those who are dulled to the sensation of hunger won’t eat enough.
Those children who rely on external information to cue eating, like sitting in front of the TV or computer, or a parent telling them to eat more, will either overeat or persistently undereat, respectively.
When kids and teens are disconnected from what their body is telling them, they will always have difficulty regulating what and how much they eat.
You Can Teach Your Child How to Tune In to their Appetite Cues
The good news is there is a way to teach children to recognize their appetite cues and listen to their bodies, no matter their age, and this will be key to supporting their developing relationship with food.
I’ve got everything you need to teach your child about their appetite cues in my newest guidebook, Teach Your Child to Know True Hunger and Fullness, At Any Age.
In Teach Your Child to Know True Hunger and Fullness, At Any Age, you’ll learn about:
- The appetite hormones
- The difference between physical and psychological hunger
- How to teach babies, toddlers, kids and teens – in age-appropriate ways – how to tune into their bodies, recognize hunger and fullness signals, communicate those sensations, and become better at self-regulating their eating.
If you want to help your child rely on their internal appetite cues to tell them what, when and how much to eat and build a strong sense of self-regulation, then you need my guidebook, Teach Your Child to Know True Hunger and Fullness, At Any Age!