Tips for getting kids to have healthy relationship with food
By Casey Seidenberg, Washington Post
My 9-year-old saw a headline in my email that read “10 Foods You Should NEVER Eat!” He grabbed me and said, “Mom, have you read this? I thought there weren’t foods we should never eat. You said all foods were okay once in a while.”
I was so proud.
As a mom who knows too much about our food system and the potential hazards to my children, I struggle to maintain a smile when my kids are handed red food-dyed snacks at soccer practice or served Coke at a birthday party. I was worried I had forever damaged them by cringing around certain food products. So the fact that my son understands that healthful foods are better choices, but that all food is okay in small doses, makes me sigh with relief.
Many children grow up with eating disorders and unhealthy associations to food. So how do we help our kids have a healthy relationship to food?