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relationship with food

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HAF Winter Food Activity Pack

Creating happy, healthy mealtimes

Healthy Intuition provides evidence based, non-judgemental support to families and childcare providers looking to develop or promote a healthy relationship with food. We provide guidance, training, workshops and resource support packages to help families and childcare providers work together to achieve this goal.

Our services aim to support parents of children with challenging eating behaviours such as fussy eating, food refusal or highly restricted eating patterns. We always promote the sensory enjoyment of food first and foremost and gently encourage a varied and balanced diet.

All the advice and supporting materials are based around our 5 principles to developing a healthy relationship with food.

We understand the complex nutritional, behavioural, emotional and social impact that a poor relationship with food can have. The services offered are based on a combination of established Government nutritional guidance and emerging research on positive child feeding practices.

We aim to help families create happier and healthier mealtimes and to enjoy cooking and eating together again

What is a healthy relationship with food?

Tasting and enjoying your food
Having a healthy appetite
Eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full
Choosing foods that are right for your body at the time you eat it
Willingness to try new foods
Eating to nourish your body and mind
Enjoyment of eating with others

5 Steps to happier, healthier family mealtimes

1. Planning

This first step is essential. If you can find the time, sometimes this means just 20 minutes a week, to plan your meals and family foods for the week in advance you have taken a positive step towards feeling more relaxed at mealtimes. Planning can be as simple as making a list of evening meals and creating a shopping list but if you want to really enjoy your family meals together you can go one step further. Why not try asking your family to choose a meal each so that everyone feels included or look up a new recipe to try together? Giving everyone a say in the meals they will be eating engages everyone in the mealtime experience and offers the opportunity to discuss food preferences and learn about compromise.

2. Finding foods everyone enjoys

Following on from Step 1, choosing meals together can be challenging if everyone has different food preferences but it is important that there is something that everyone can enjoy. ‘Research shows that children who see their parents enjoy their food are much more likely to try those foods too’ Trust the fact that if you enjoy eating a healthy, varied diet, that your children are more than likely going to grow up to do the same. If you find eating healthy foods challenging yourself this may be an area you can work on to encourage your children to do the same (link to ‘how to increase your enjoyment of healthy foods’) If your children are very young, give them the opportunity to try lots of different foods, allowing them to explore them (play with them a bit). This will allow them the opportunity to find out for themselves which foods they like and don’t like and don’t worry if they don’t like everything that you offer them. This is a natural part of developing a healthy relationship with food.

3. Finding time to eat together

Family life can be hectic. Between working, school, children’s activities and social time it can be sometimes a challenge to find a regular eating routine. This time however is more than just time to eat. It is time to bond as a family, an opportunity for children to connect with you each day and provides a secure structure to their day. Creating regular family mealtimes can improve your child’s mental health, self esteem and general feeling of well-being. It is a great opportunity demonstrate table manners, build confidence in conversation and enjoy food together.

4. Keeping mealtimes relaxed

If you have followed Steps 1-3 then it should be much easier to relax around mealtimes. If you have been responsible for planning the meal then you will know that you have listened to everyone’s food preferences and provided a healthy meal that everyone can enjoy. Choosing meals that are easy to prepare during the week is a sensible idea, try not to overstretch yourself by trying over complicated recipes if you don’t really have the time to do it. Your family will appreciate your meal much more if you are relaxed with them while eating it. The weekend or days when you have more time is the best time to try new recipes.

5. Teamwork

Planning, cooking, eating and clearing up together is a great way to work as a team. It can often come down to one person to prepare meals in a house but if this responsibility is done together everyone has a chance to input and feel valued. Asking your children to contribute, even in a small way, helps build confidence and skills and if they are praised for their input this helps them feel appreciated for their contribution. Family mealtimes is the perfect opportunity to do this. Try to find them a job that they are able to complete independently and is age appropriate.

What is ‘healthy’ child eating behaviour?

It is easy to become concerned about our child’s eating behaviours. If we see other children eating foods that your child won’t or your child is refusing to eat foods at mealtimes it can be distressing. At Healthy Intuition we help you to identify if your child’s eating behaviours really are something that you need extra support with.

See below some simple statements of behaviours that are a normal part of developing a healthy relationship with food and some behaviours that you may want to seek some extra support with.

Healthy eating behaviours

To want to touch, smell food or play with food before eating it
To have food preferences
To refuse foods that they don’t like
To start to dislike foods that they previously liked
To start to like foods they previously didn’t like
To go through a ‘fussy stage’ between 18mths – 3yrs old
To be wary of foods that they haven’t tried before

Seek support if you notice any of the following…

Your child refuses to eat all foods or only one or two foods from a certain food group i.e no fruit or vegetables or no protein foods
Your child is regularly upset at mealtimes
Your child is unwilling to try new foods
Your child will avoid social eating
Your child is very particular about the way food is presented i.e the shape, texture or way a food is prepared
Your child doesn’t appear to enjoy eating
Your child steals or hides foods

The good news is that there are lots of things that can be done to encourage a child to enjoy a healthy relationship with food. Sometimes just a few simple changes can make all the difference.

If you would like some support with getting your child’s eating behaviours back on track book in a FREE discovery chat to see if we can support you with this. If we feel that we cannot help you we will signpost you to a relevant healthcare professional that can.

Why is it important for children to explore food?

Seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting foods is all part of a child developing their food senses. It is these experiences that help us as humans to detect the safety of food and explore our food preferences. We also learn from a young age how foods make our bodies feel.

If children are not allowed to explore foods or gain this insight for themselves they are missing a vital component that is required to develop a healthy relationship with food. Children need to understand the signals their bodies send them when they are hungry and when they are full and also which foods are going alleviate their hunger or make their bodies feel healthier.

As parents or caregivers it is easy to override a child’s natural food choices for a number of reasons however we must be careful not to disrupt the child’s ability to self-regulate or find their enjoyment in food.

To encourage your child to engage with their food senses why not try one of our Little Food Explorer Activities?

As an early years setting we have found it invaluable to be able to access the services of a Nutritionist to support families on a one to one basis through additional funding we have secured. We are fortunate to have the Little Food Explorer groups going on in our locality so that we can sign post parents, who are really seeing the benefit of the advice and activities.

Thanks so much for helping my seriously picky eater these past couple of months. When you said your strategies will get her eating within 4-6 weeks, I’ll be honest, we were sceptical. But the advice in our weekly consultations really helped her to feel comfortable around food again and now she’s eating fruit and pasta! Both foods she’d previously avoid. Small steps I know but all going in the right direction!! Thank you for helping us to relax at meal times again and have faith in your process.

ORDER TODAY!
HAF Winter Food Activity Pack

Creating happy, healthy mealtimes

Developing
FOOD SENSE

Engaging in POSITIVE FOOD TALK

Having
FOOD FUN

GETTING INVOLVED

Creating HAPPY
MEALTIMES

What is a healthy relationship with food?

5 Steps to happier, healthier family mealtimes

ORDER TODAY! HAF Winter Food Activity Pack

Creating happy, healthy mealtimes

Developing FOOD SENSE

Engaging in POSITIVE FOOD TALK

Having FOOD FUN

GETTING INVOLVED

Creating HAPPY MEALTIMES

What is a healthy relationship with food?

5 Steps to happier, healthier family mealtimes

ORDER TODAY!
HAF Winter Food Activity Pack

Developing
FOOD SENSE

Having
FOOD FUN

Creating HAPPY
MEALTIMES