It seems that the childhood obesity epidemic is talked about constantly. Understandably, many parents are very concerned about raising healthy children. This often includes parents feeling that they must police the food their children eat. I would advocate a move away from this and toward Ellyn Satter's division of responsibility in feeding (copyright 2018 by Ellyn Satter published at EllynSatterInstitute.org).
Ellyn Satter is a registered dietitian. She coaches parents of picky eaters on helping their children eat. Her philosophy is that parents have certain responsibilities when it comes to feeding their children, and children have certain responsibilities when it comes to eating.
The parents' responsibilities for feeding children are to:
Select and prepare food
Provide that food at regular meals and snacks
Make eating time enjoyable
Show the child by example how to behave at mealtimes
Be considerate of the child's limited food experience without catering to likes and dislikes
Not let the child have food or beverages (except water) between meals/snacks
And let the child grow into the body that is right for them.
Part of this responsibility is to trust the child to eat the amount they need, learn to eat the same food as the parents, grow predictably in a way that is individualized for them, and learn to behave properly at mealtime.
I first learned about this philosophy during my WIC internship. Basically, I summarized it to parents this way: They are responsible for what, where and when their children eat, and children are always responsible for how much and whether they eat a certain food or foods. The difference this makes in a child's life is amazing. It teaches them to embrace their body's internal cues about hunger and fullness, which is an important lesson for everyone. I encourage you to visit her website and find out more at ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/the-division-of-responsibility-in-feeding.
Lynn Eaton R.D., L.D., CDE is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. She works at Capital Region Medical Center as an inpatient and critical care dietitian. She also writes a nutrition blog, which you can follow at nutritionnotions.wordpress.com.