The Feeding Relationship: Parents & Children
I just got back from serving on a health panel at my church here in Cambridge. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about my topic of choice (food and nutrition) for two hours. While there was a wide variety of questions that I addressed, a common theme focused on the feeding relationship between parents and children. While my practice focuses primarily on adult nutrition, I have been amazed to see how our grown-up feelings, attitudes, and behaviors about food stem from our interactions with food as children.
Nearly all parents care deeply about the heatlh and well-being of their kids. But as most parents have experienced, dinner time can turn into a source of anxiety and frustration as you try to feed your family well. Even the most well-intentioned parent can find themselves engaging in a power struggle, battling over broccoli and cookies.
Ellyn Satter is a Registered Dietitian specializing in teaching people how to feed a healthy family. I highly recommend visiting her website. And if this topic interests you, check out her book “How to Get Your Kid to Eat…But Not Too Much.” She provides a wealth of knowledge and gives you the tools you need to raise a healthy family….without the dinner time battles.
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Hey Marci! Your website is really great! I hope your business takes off. As if you’re not busy enough already…
I just wanted to say thanks for the link to Ellyn Satter. I’m going to head to the library tomorrow to find her books. I’ve been struggling with being a single parent during mealtimes due to Karl’s residency schedule. Every single one is a fight of some sort, very often with Hudson because he is an EXTREMELY slow eater, but will then get down from the table and tell me he’s starving five minutes later. I’ve started dreading and delaying and giving up on actually cooking because I hate it so much. I read a lot on Ms. Satter’s website, and I’m going to give her division of responsibility thing a try once I get a hold of the books and get the details. The testimonials on her site have given me hope that we might actually enjoy mealtime again.
Hmmm… do you think you’d do any meal-planning consultations via email? It’s not the cooking or the shopping I get stuck on. It’s the dreaded dilemma of what to have for dinner. Especially with all the fuss I’ve gotten if I actually bother to cook real food. Meal planning is my arch-nemesis. Well, that and laundry, but laundry isn’t your area of professional expertise 🙂
Thanks a lot. I hope you and Adam are still enjoying Boston. It sounds like you really are.
Chrysta Richards