Nurturing Intuitive Eaters: Fostering a Healthy Relationship with Food from the Start
In a world where diet culture often dictates what and how we should eat, many parents are embracing the vital goal of raising intuitive eaters. Intuitive eating is a holistic philosophy that encourages individuals to listen to and trust their body's natural hunger and fullness cues when making food choices. While it encompasses a wide range of principles, a significant component involves tuning into these cues. By instilling this approach from a young age, we empower our children to develop a lifelong, healthy relationship with food.
Last week, over on instagram, I talked all about Responsive Feeding, Raising intuitive eaters AND collaborated with my colleague, Erin Moore of @babyfeeding.coach. Erin is a Nurse Practitioner that helps mamas start solids the way that works best for them (here’s a great blog post from Erin if you’re getting ready to start your babe on foods!). I am a huge proponent of baby led weaning (starting your kid on solids and letting them feed themselves)– and while I tried to fully commit to it, I found myself feeling a little overwhelmed with handing my 6 month old a big chunk of meat and the possibility of them choking. As time went on, I felt more comfortable with purees and small bits of food and realized I don't need to follow all the baby led weaning rules for my kids to healthfully explore and learn how to eat on their own. While it's important for us to let our kids do the exploring with food, it's also important for us to feel at ease with our kiddos' eating experience (they feel your stress, friends!). So, Erin and I collaborated to talk about how to introduce solids in a way that is pressure-free and so that we can learn to read our babe's signals and respect their fullness and hunger cues.
The overall idea of this is called responsive feeding, which helps our kiddos turn into intuitive eaters. Raising intuitive eaters will help our kiddos to have improved physical and mental health, positive body image, and sustainable eating habits — so why wouldn’t we want to pursue this??
But How Do We Encourage Intuitive Eating in Our Kids?
Encouraging intuitive eating doesn't mean giving our children free rein over the kitchen; it's about finding the balance with both structure and having flexibility and balance. As caregivers, we have a crucial role in shaping our children's relationship with food. Some nutrition experts go by the “You Provide, They Decide” approach - which puts your jobs into buckets. The caregiver has the responsibility to say where, when, and what is being served. Then, our kids get to decide how much and what to eat from what they are given. This helps to prevent overeating, under-eating, and any unnecessary pressure that may cause adverse effects on eating habits. Bonus: it greatly relieves that dinner time stress!
Responsive Feeding: A Key to Intuitive Eating
Responsive feeding goes beyond the "You Provide, They Decide" approach (also known as Ellyn Satter’s Mealtime Division of Responsibility) because it takes into account our children's unique needs. It's an approach to infant and child feeding that centers on sensitivity to a child's hunger and fullness cues, as well as their individual needs and preferences.
Here are its key principles:
Recognizing Hunger and Fullness Cues: Caregivers aim to identify when a child is hungry and when they are satisfied. This involves observing physical and behavioral cues, such as rooting, lip-smacking, leaning forward (signs of hunger), or turning away from food (signs of fullness).
Feeding on Demand: Responsive feeding means offering meals and snacks when the child expresses hunger rather than adhering to rigid schedules. It allows for structure with flexibility, respecting the child's internal cues.
Respecting the Child's Preferences: While providing a balanced and nutritious diet, caregivers acknowledge and respect the child's food preferences and choices.
Avoiding Pressure or Force: Responsive feeding avoids pressuring or coercing the child to eat more or less than they want. It refrains from using food as a reward or punishment and steers clear of mealtime power struggles.
Creating a Positive Mealtime Environment: Mealtimes should be a positive and nurturing experience, free from stress or conflict. This promotes a healthy attitude towards food.
Role Modeling: Children learn by observing caregivers. Modeling healthy eating behaviors, enjoying a variety of foods, and maintaining a positive attitude towards food and eating can greatly influence a child's approach to eating.
Practical Steps for Raising Intuitive Eaters
Introduction to Solids at 6 Months:
Begin the journey of raising intuitive eaters early by introducing solid foods (or purees… really, just food!) around the age of 6 months. Pay attention to your child's hunger and fullness cues during this crucial phase. Allow them to feed themselves (mostly!).
Respect Their Cues:
Respect your child's hunger and fullness cues. Allow them to eat when hungry and stop when they signal fullness. Avoid urging them to finish everything on their plate, as it can override their innate signals.
Model Healthy Eating Behaviors:
Be a positive role model by maintaining a balanced diet, enjoying diverse foods, and refraining from negative comments about your body or restrictive diets.
Avoid Food as a Reward or Punishment:
Steer clear of using food as a tool for behavior control. Encourage your child to view food as nourishment and pleasure rather than a bargaining chip.
Encourage Mindful Eating:
Teach your child the art of savoring food. Encourage them to eat slowly, appreciate different flavors and textures, and embrace mealtime as a pleasant social experience.
Raising intuitive eaters is a lifelong gift that fosters a healthy relationship with food, prevents eating disorders, and promotes overall well-being. By introducing intuitive eating principles early, respecting your child's hunger and fullness cues, and modeling positive eating behaviors, you pave the way for your child to build a strong foundation of intuitive eating and a healthy relationship with food. Keep in mind that every child is unique, so patience and understanding are essential on this journey toward fostering a healthy relationship with food and body image.
If you want to delve deeper into these concepts, consider exploring my course, "The Anti-Diet Mama Course." It offers an entire module on raising intuitive eaters with body confidence, providing in-depth insights into these topics and including practical scripts for handling tricky food conversations, navigating sweets, managing others feeding your kids, and more! Learn more here. Use code BLOGPOST20 for a $20 discount off the full price of the course (only 100 coupons available from this blog post).