Sunday, February 28, 2016

stop using foods as a reward and more to share


A great article discussing our tendency as parents to reward children with food. I've been very aware of this and JB and I have tried to be very purposeful in our decisions to not teach our children bad habits regarding food. We specifically not to encourage our children to eat everything on their plate. We try not to say things like "Love that healthy appetite!" or other things that imply that eating a lot is something good. When eating pizza or another "not healthy" food we encourage the kids to eat 1-2 pieces and then pick some fruit or something else healthy before getting more pizza. We also try to pick rewards that aren't always food-related.

Love to hear what fellow moms think about this article and the concept of teaching our children healthy concepts related to food.

1 comment:

Kelli said...

I agree! I am not a health nut, but I also want to instill good food habits in my children. But the other thing that I almost equally hate are trinkets and small toys as prizes. We have enough junk in the house as it is! I appreciated seeing the non-material prizes in the author's list of alternative prizes. Thanks for sharing! I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.