Making mealtime joyful Stress Free Mealtime Making mealtime joyful

Goals Conduct Eating Competency Assessment View Love Parenting Video Review Agencies that recognize Division of Responsibility as best practice Define and understand Eating Competency Learn Division of Responsibility for the parent and the child Learn how to Master Meals by having pleasant mealtimes Understand the Ages and Stages of feeding children

‘‘When the joy goes out of eating, nutrition suffers ‘‘When the joy goes out of eating, nutrition suffers.’’ - Ellyn Satter Love Parenting: Stress Free Mealtimes For you and Your Child

Recommended as Best Practice by: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics The American Academy of Pediatrics Expert committee on child obesity Head Start WIC: the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children USDA Food and Nutrition Service

Eating Competence Having a positive relationship with food, including: Feeling good about food and about eating Liking a variety of food and enjoying learning to like new food Eating enough and being satisfied Taking time to eat, having regular meals and snacks, and paying attention when you eat

Eating Competent People: Have better diets Have the same or lower BMI Have better physical self acceptance Are more active Sleep better Have better medical and lab tests Do better with feeding their children

Division of Responsibility Parents take leadership in What food is provided When serving meals and snacks Where eating occurs Children receive autonomy by How much they choose to eat Whether they choose to eat it

Parents’ Feeding Jobs Choose and prepare the food. Provide regular meals and snacks. Make eating times pleasant. Step-by-step, show children by example how to behave at family mealtime. Be considerate of children’s lack of food experience without catering to likes and dislikes. Not let children have food or beverages (except for water) between meal and snack times. Let children grow up to get bodies that are right for them.

Children’s Eating Jobs Children will eat. They will eat the amount they need. They will learn to eat the food their parents eat. They will grow predictably. They will learn to behave well at mealtime.

Instituting Division of Responsibility is a Process Step One – the Parent Examine the feeding problem: When did it start? What is contributing to the problem? Correcting the error will allow trust in the child to eat appropriately. What caused the eating problem? Misinterpretation of normal growth Restrained/forced feeding Poor eating competence growing out of errors in feeding Stress

Step Two – the Parent Get structure in place Let go of being controlling with feeding Adjust expectations of children’s eating Being Considerate without Catering Include protein, fat, and carbohydrates Pair familiar food with unfamiliar food Let everyone pick and choose from what is on the table

Step Three – the Child Behaviors will get extreme before they moderate Rules will be tested at first Ultimately they will become relaxed and comfortable with eating Tips to expand your menus Include foods you like Add an item without taking something else away Make only one change at a time

Mastering Meals How to Have Pleasant Mealtimes

Get the Meal Habit Set regular family meal and snack times Use snacks to support meals Gather the family to sit at the table for meals and snacks Let everyone decide what and how much they will eat from what is provided Make mealtimes pleasant by engaging in enjoyable conversation

Add New Menu Items Offer new foods while keeping favorites available Don’t offer substitutes

Planning Include protein, fat, and carbohydrates Always offer something that everyone will eat Do not restrict “forbidden” food (low nutrient density)

Joyful Eating Avoid Virtue – Low fat, sugar, salt, etc. Keep mealtime pleasurable and it will be sustainable Involve the family in planning, shopping, and cooking Relax and enjoy pleasant mealtimes

How to Feed Children Child Feeding Ages and Stages

Birth to ~ 6 Months Feed when she wants to eat – when she’s wide awake and still calm Sit still during feeding Let her eat at her pace Don’t try to continue feeding after she signals that she’s done

6 to ~ 9 Months Wait to start solids until he can sit up and be able to swallow food from a spoon Let him eat at his pace Do not try to force feed after he signals that he’s done eating

9 Months to ~ 1 Year Offer safe soft foods that are easy to chew and swallow Let her eat at her own pace Don’t try to continue feeding when she’s signaled that she’s had enough Offer breastmilk or formula in a cup Give her about a tablespoon of each food

1 to ~ 3 Years Have 3 set meal times per day Offer sit down snacks every 2 – 3 hours between meals Let him eat at his own pace Do not try to make him continue to eat or finish his plate if he’s done eating No eating other than at set meal times and snack times, except for water

3 to ~ 9 Years Have 3 family set meal times per day and sit-down snack times No in-between meal/snack grazing, except for water Let her serve herself and eat at her own pace Let her have another serving (except dessert), even if she hasn’t finished other items

9 to ~ 12 Years Provide 3 set family meal times Snack only after school and at the table No in-between meal/snack grazing, except for water No munching in front of the TV or while doing homework Let him serve himself and eat at his own pace Let him have another serving (except dessert), even if he hasn’t finished other foods Teach him snack planning combining protein, fat, and carbohydrates

12 to ~ 18 Years Teach her meal planning principles combining protein, fat, and carbohydrates Expect her to manager her schedule including taking responsibility for eating 3 meals per day, having snacks when needed, and being hungry at dinner time Snack only right after school and at the table No munching in front of the TV or while doing homework Let her choose her own snacks

Your advice has worked wonderfully Your advice has worked wonderfully! The little lady who would only eat Cheerios & bread is now eager to eat all kinds of baby food, cereal and finger food. It's amazing. There is so much more time to play now, she seems happier and I'm definitely more relaxed. Meals are fun now and there's lots of smiling. Thank you, thank you. I'd call it total success! ~ Amy Testimonial

Satter, Ellyn. 2016. Divisions of Responsibility Satter, Ellyn. 2016. Divisions of Responsibility. Retrieved from http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/dor/divisionofresponsibilityinfeeding.php Satter, Ellyn. 2016. How to Feed Children. Retrieved from http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/htf/howtofeed.php Satter, Ellyn. 2016. Master Meals Step by Step. Retrieved from http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/hte/masteringfamilymealsindex.php Satter, Ellyn. 2016. Satter Eating Competence Model. Retrieved from http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/other/ecsatter.php Satter, Ellyn. 2008. Secrets of feeding a healthy family: How to eat, how to raise good eaters, how to cook. Madison, WI: Kelcy Press. References