7 Mistakes Parents Make When Feeding Their Children
Whether your child is slim, heavier or right at their ideal weight, many parents worry about how they eat. Here are the 7 most common mistakes — and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1: Encouraging the “clean plate club”
Healthy young children generally eat when hungry and stop when full — they can follow their natural instincts. You shouldn't encourage them to eat more once they've reached fullness. Teaching children to stay in tune with their own hunger and fullness helps them avoid overeating as they grow. Recent studies show that children of all ages eat more when serving portions are large — in other words, putting a little more on their plate regardless of how full they are means more food eaten. Important: Don't encourage or bribe your children to clear their plates. Keep portions small (except vegetables — those are unlimited), and let them ask for more if they're still hungry.
Mistake 2: Offering sweet rewards
Getting children to eat vegetables can be frustrating, and parents may resort to bribery: “If you eat your broccoli, you can have ice cream for dessert.” Unfortunately, because there's a sweet reward at the end, broccoli and other less-appealing vegetables can seem valuable only for what they earn. Many studies show that, in the long run, children don't make a habit of these foods and never choose them once the reward disappears. So what should you do? Keep dessert as a separate thing — there's no need to make it the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Mistake 3: Banning all sweets
With childhood obesity a global concern, it's no surprise that parents ban all sweets — but a total ban can backfire. For children to have a healthy relationship with food (sweets included), you have to meet somewhere in the middle. You can prevent them going wrong by limiting the amount of sweets and controlling how much they eat. Research at Penn State found that when children's snacks and treats were restricted, their desire to eat them only increased, and they wanted them at every opportunity. For school-age children, after school lunch and after dinner are perfect snack times. The key is to guide them and allow a reasonable amount of independence with treats. Important: Limit snacks/treats to 150 calories — two biscuits, one ice cream. Make reading food labels a habit and choose healthier options. A treat with some nutrition is a bonus — low-fat pudding and ice cream provide calcium; a strawberry cream provides vitamin C and fibre. Give them reasonable freedom of choice so you can guide them.
Mistake 4: Letting little children eat like big children
A study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that children with older siblings were more prone to junk food (soda, crisps, biscuits, cake, sweets), because they can reach high-energy foods through their older siblings and are exposed to unhealthy foods earlier than a firstborn was. Remember how careful you were about your first baby's eating! Try to keep the same age-based food standards for all your children. Snacks suitable for older children aren't suitable for younger or preschool children. Put treats in older children's lunchboxes for school, or let older children have them when the little ones are in another room, in the bath, or asleep.
Mistake 5: Offering too many snacks
Constant snacking through the day can leave children uninterested in main (lunch and dinner) meals. If they're not truly hungry, they'll be less willing to try new foods like vegetables at dinner. Try these: keep a consistent meal and snack schedule; leave at least two hours between a snack and a meal; and if your child has more than 2–3 snacks a day, limit each to 150 calories.
Mistake 6: Starting young children on liquid calories
According to a 2008 study in Pediatrics, children get 10–15% of their daily calories from sugary drinks (soda, sports drinks, juice) and 100% fruit juices, and the calories they take from these drinks have risen over the past decade. Most of these are empty calories — mostly simple sugars — and despite being calorie-dense, they don't trigger fullness the way solid food does, so children can't sense they've had too much and the extra fluid isn't compensated for, leading to long-term weight gain. The best thing you can do: limit the drinks offered at home to water (including mineral and sparkling water), fat-free or 1% milk (after age 2), and occasionally 100% diluted fruit juice. Prevent early consumption of sugary, calorie-dense flavoured waters and juices — and set a good example by not drinking them yourself.
Mistake 7: Serving food the same way you did before you had children
You may enjoy healthy, filling plain grilled chicken, salad, boiled vegetables and fish — but children may find these bland or downright off-putting. To win them over to healthy foods, get a little more creative in the kitchen. Make plates more vibrant, try tasty sauces and garnishes, and play with shape, colour and texture. Some ideas: chop raw vegetables and dip them in a low-fat sauce; offer low-fat yogurt with fruit as a dessert, like a fondue; jar up chicken or vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus with marinara sauce and a little low-fat mozzarella or parmesan; use small cutters to shape vegetables and fruit (great with peppers, raw beetroot, cucumber, apple, pear and melon); make fun objects like celery boats filled with low-fat cream cheese and red pepper; mix chopped or grated vegetables (courgette or carrot work well) into meatballs, soups, marinara sauce and other dishes; and add extra chopped or frozen vegetables to canned soups or ready meals at lunch — you'll find your children barely notice them.
Merve Tığlı, Dietitian