This is a shortened version of an article that appeared on Medium. The full article, including links to related research, can be found here. Rachael Wilson is a Paediatric Dietitian and co-founder of The Food Tree. You can follow The Food Tree on Facebook here.
Halloween can be scary for parents - and I don't mean the plethora of ghosts, little witches and goblins that roam our streets. Our society comes with a helping of fear-mongering around sugar. Which is particularly unnerving for parents at times when sugary foods are part of the norm at a celebration - be it Halloween, Christmas or a birthday party.
- Fortnite Halloween costumes revealed to be most popular
- Tips to keep your kids safe on Halloween
- The origins of halloween
We're told that sugar is "toxic", "addictive" and linked to an array of health issues. We get bombarded with rules and restriction messages that instil fear on a daily basis.
Raising healthy kids who have a positive relationship with food and their bodies becomes difficult when certain foods are marketed directly at our children. We also know those foods taste pretty good and are literally going to be handed to our child by the bucket full.
Halloween and other holidays have such potential for awesome, teachable moments. If we can let go of feeling we need to control our child's eating, we can relax and actually enjoy the celebration with them. We can create memories of mischief and fun, rather than battles over how many bites of a chocolate bar they can have before the stash of sweets gets confiscated. Or a lecture on how what they are eating is bad for them (when all they can taste is sweet chocolatey goodness, they are not hearing or believing you!)
If we can approach Halloween with a growth mind-set, there is the possibility that we might learn something about ourselves . It means letting go of past fears and future anxiety, allowing yourself to rememberwhy you are involved in the celebration in the first place.
At The Food Tree, we are inspired by the work of the renowned Dietitian and Family therapist Ellyn Satter and reiterate her approach to managing these "restricted foods". So here is a take on her plan for the days around Halloween:
1) Allow your child to eat as much or as little as they want on the night of Halloween. Let them manage their own collection of sweets without interference. This will likely be a time of exploration. They may eat more than their body feels like (especially if this is a new freedom) and feel sick after, and that's OK. It's part of learning as they too figure out how to listen to their bodies and trust that you are not going to interfere/restrict. The natural consequence of feeling ill will have a far longer lasting impact on their learning, than any lecture or advice we could give!
As a parent, you can help to guide some reflection in these moments. "How does it feel in your body?" "What could or would you like to do differently next time?"
2) Use neutral language in reference to the foods on offer. Try to bite your tongue from referring to them as "treats" "occasional foods" or "unhealthy". Food is food. When all foods are morally neutral it helps to put the joy back into eating and steps away from a shame and fear-based mentality, that can be damaging long-term. It also quietens the noise and hype around certain foods. When we can just allow ourselves to be present while eating, not distracted by feeling guilty or 'naughty', we can focus on how that food actually makes us feel. This makes it much easier to self-regulate our intake, and continue to do so with clarity, throughout our lives.
3) Allow your child to self-manage their sweet collection the next day. Invite them to hand it over to you when they are done. Give another opportunity to eat as much or as little as they like at a snack time and to choose a couple of foods to have at dinner time alongside the family meal.
As the parent, you're providing a structure and framework for your child to explore eating these foods across the week alongside their meals. By continuing to occasionally offer the foods alongside meals, you are taking the sweet foods off the pedestal. They are no longer a reward or bargaining chip, they are just one of the foods on the table.
Allowing this freedom at celebration times not only allows them to genuinely enjoy the excitement and fun of the moment, over time this becomes the knowledge that they can be relaxed around sweet foods because it's no big deal.
It may provide an opportunity to learn that you can have too much of a good thing. The novelty soon wears off eating endless sweets; you start wanting a refreshing glass of water and something crunchy. These are skills that your child will carry with them for life. Enabling both a positive relationship with food but also, a positive mental well-being for your child and healthy body image.
Newshub.
