by alyssa said, redwood wellbeing
The Christmas season is a time for celebration, family, and of course, lots of food. For many parents, Christmas can bring some apprehension about how to navigate their child’s eating when there are so many situations that present an abundance of food – often sweet food!
The good news is that by embracing these balanced eating tips, you can support your child in practicing their intuitive eating skills in a range of festive food scenarios, empowering them to move toward food peace and neutrality.
Here’s five ways you can support your child’s balanced eating this Christmas.
Accept that there won’t be as much meal structure around the Christmas period but try to keep some normalcy where possible with food routines. This will help to provide a sense of security and stability in a time of year that has little routine to it. It will also help your child tune into their natural hunger and fullness cues, avoiding erratic eating patterns and anxiety about food, and reduce the likelihood of overindulgence. If eating times and locations look different around Christmas, you can still find ways to create consistency such as bringing a food your child feels familiar with to the family lunch or Christmas party.
Consider helpful food boundaries for events and parties in advance and provide a supportive choice alongside each boundary. This might look like saying to your child; “You can choose whatever you like from the dessert table, but I’d like you to make your choices then sit down with your plate, rather than going back and forth constantly.” The key is to be consistent but allow for flexibility, providing enough structure to help them feel grounded and safe, while still allowing room for enjoyment and new experiences.
Avoid restrictions on food as much as possible, while still implementing supportive food boundaries. As much as you might laugh at the idea of allowing your child to have little to no sweet food restrictions, it will help them to feel more neutral about sweet food, and less likely to gorge on it when their access is not as limited. If your child feels sick from overeating, use it as an opportunity to gently discuss intuition and how it’s important to listen to their body’s hunger and fullness cues. The natural consequence of an upset tummy can often be a good teacher but be sure to talk about this without judging or shaming them. You can also use intuitive eating check in prompts such as;
- “How are you feeling right now in your tummy?”
- “What other foods do you think your body would like you to eat alongside that cake?”
- “Are you hungry for that ice cream, or just wanting to eat it because it’s yummy? It’s okay to eat for enjoyment but perhaps choose a portion size that isn’t going to upset your tummy.”
Remember that their intuitive eating also includes eating for joy, so allow them to enjoy the festive food season with your support rather than control.
During Christmas parties, it might be tempting to bribe your child to “eat a vegetable before dessert”, but this can create unhealthy associations with food. It increases the reverence for the sweet food and decreases the interest in the food they’re being pressured to eat. Instead, allow your child to choose what they eat off their plate, how much to eat, and when to stop based on their own cues of hunger and fullness. A supportive food boundary in this instance might be to ask them to include some vegetables on their plate, even if they don’t end up eating them. This helps them get used to their presence and become less wary of them over time.
Model your own balanced eating to your child. Kids often mimic their parents’ eating behaviours, so set an example by having a relaxed approach to Christmas eating without dieting behaviours evident. Show them that all foods can be part of a healthy, enjoyable lifestyle, and that there’s no need to label foods as “good” or “bad.” Include a variety of nourishing food options on your own plate and eat sweet food peacefully, without any mention of eating ‘junk’ or ‘being naughty’. Creating moral value around food is unhelpful for a child’s long term food relationship, so demonstrate your own positive connection to food as best you can.
With a little preparation and a few simple strategies, your child will learn balanced eating habits that will serve them throughout their childhood and into adulthood, and you can make the holidays a time for connection and peace, rather than stress around food. Happy eating!
Alyssa is a mother of two, a high school PDHPE teacher, and founder of Redwood Wellbeing as a certified body image coach and food relationship counsellor. Alyssa equips parents to support their child’s intuitive eating practice, and helps parents with modelling positive food and body image relationships to their child.