Every day we raise our children and have certain habits and in the same way we sit at the table with them and a routine is established. We are consolidating certain habits that condition the way we interact with children at mealtime, some very important interactions.
Each house is a world and normally there will be a few days better than others. But how can we try to make that moment more pleasant? Here we leave you some tips for the meal time with children be better, that we meet and are at ease.
These are some tips developed by the DKV Institute of Healthy Life, with the collaboration of the Thao Foundation. With them, strategies are offered to fathers and mothers so that children adopt adequate and healthy habits during meals and, among other things, prevent childhood obesity.
These tips are born as a result of the interesting "I Study of the environment during mealtime in childhood", a pioneering research in Spain that we talked about a few days ago.
Eat every day with your family. It is not always possible, but you have to try to make at least one of the main meals of the day with the children. Family food is an important meeting point between children and their parents, vital to strengthen unity, family cohesion and to promote their health. It is a great opportunity to communicate with the children, talk about the colé, the friends ... It is also very positive that the boys and girls participate and help from small to set the table and pick it up.
Learn to listen to children. Sometimes behavior or manners can be left in a secondary place (or even resolved) if we learn to attend to what they feel and think. Once again, we must seek positive communication. They need to be heard and understood, with importance also to nonverbal language (their expressions, gestures ...).
Avoid distractions like television or games during the meal, since these gadgets are at odds with family communication, which is precisely what we want to promote. The presence of television or other electronic devices or toys contribute to slowness and distraction during the meal.
Each child has their own rhythm, the slowness should not worry us in excess and we must be patient, we must respect their rhythms so that when eating with the family is an experience and positive learning. Haste, are enemies of good times at the table.
Share with the children the “gastronomic” experience. Along with the topics of the day, we can talk about the foods that are being consumed, the flavors, smells, textures, etc. to enrich the dynamics of food. It is a form of discovery and sensory learning. Little by little, they will consolidate their food preferences.
Adapt portion sizes, since children should eat according to their age and their individual characteristics. If they themselves participate in deciding the quantity and the choice of some accompaniments, the meal passes more peacefully and the children eat much better, in addition to the recognition of satiety.
Interest in the child's relationship with food. We have tried not to see the time of the meal as something obligatory, related to insistence, pressure or coercion. Do not threaten them with punishment but continue to seek communication: "Why don't you eat?", "Isn't it good?", "It seems good to me ...", "Other times you liked it", "You'll be stronger "...
Encourage him, don't pressure him to eat. Those moods we just talked about should not become pressures. You have to encourage the children to eat, tell him that he was doing well, that there is little left ... but without scolding or getting angry. We avoid tensions, bad atmosphere, fears ...
Dessert is part of the menu and not just a prize or reward (nor a threat: "If you don't eat, there is no dessert"). The dessert they like is part of the menu, it helps them discover flavors, textures ... and they can also be important and necessary foods such as fruits.
Finish the meal in positive, even when the child did not like something. Let's try to negotiate (a few more spoonfuls, a change of food ...) in positive. Finishing the angry food will help us not feel like sitting back in family for the next meal.
In short, sitting at the table is not just a matter of nourishment. That's why we hope that these tips to improve the family atmosphere at the table be useful to you Be it at lunch or dinner, enjoy your children!
Photos | Thinkstock
Via | DKV
In Babies and more | How do family interactions influence children at mealtime? Time to eat with the baby: time to be relaxed and happy, Decalogue of the Mediterranean diet for children
