Apr. 12--It's counterintuitive advice to most parents -- don't control what your children eat.
Don't label foods as "bad."
Don't restrict a robust child's healthy appetite.
Sure, it's debatable. But it's a philosophy with a following.
Children should eat when they are hungry and stop when they are satisfied, says Tucson registered dietitian Jude Trautlein, who works with parents and children.
While that advice seems simple, it's often difficult for parents and children to follow. Children frequently grow up not listening to their own cues when it comes to eating. When they cry as babies, they are offered a bottle or a breast. As children grow older, they are told they can't have dessert until they finish their vegetables.
But Trautlein says all of us -- even children -- have a natural urge to eat healthfully.
If children are allowed to regulate their own eating, it may take a few weeks but eventually it will happen, writes Ellyn Satter, a Wisconsin-based author, registered dietitian and recognized expert on children and eating.
In her books, Satter says all children know how much to eat -- they instinctively eat as much as they need, as long as the adults in their lives allow that to happen. Some kids need more food to nourish their naturally stout bodies while others need less to fuel their naturally slim bodies, she says.
Her basic philosophy is that parents should be in charge of what to eat, when to eat and where to eat. Kids, meanwhile, should be in charge of how much to eat -- or whether to eat at all at that particular meal.
Satter writes that problems arise when parents try to control a child's eating, particularly when children are perceived as overweight or underweight. In some cases, those problems could lead to future eating disorders, she writes.
According to her philosophy: If a robust child's hearty appetite is restricted, that child may become preoccupied with food and tend to overeat or hoard food, given the chance. Conversely, children who have food pushed on them may become turned off by it and undereat when they get the chance.
Trautlein says Satter's advice makes sense. Like Satter, she advises against banning certain foods.
"I don't like to label foods as good or bad because then eating the 'bad' foods makes some people feel guilty," Trautlein says. "All foods can fit into a healthy diet."
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