Training Kids to Tune Out External Cues, Tune in to Internal Ones

Aug 17, 2009 by Anna Migeon

It starts well: in the beginning, our hunger perfectly regulates our eating.  A baby cries when she’s hungry and we feed her the optimal food—breast milk—or the best baby formula we can buy. It’s a simple as that.  Parents, who know best, feed the baby only those foods that will benefit her, and she learns to like them. So far, so good.

Getting civilized

It all becomes considerably more complicated as we grow up. In part, it’s a matter of becoming more civilized in our eating habits. Learning to follow some external cues…

Strategies for Eating Mindlessly / Strategies for More Mindful Eating

Aug 3, 2009 by Anna Migeon

Eleven Strategies of Mindless Eating:

· Make food look like something else, a face, or a tiny airplane, or a rabbit, for example.

· Distract kids from the food itself, making eating a game so kids won’t think about the fact they’re eating.

· Make food and eating a battle ground of wills.

· Connect eating to punishment or reward.

· Tell kids to clean their plates.

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