The Little One Refuses To Eat, These Are Tips To Train Mindful Eating In Children

Illustrations (Ekaterina Bolovtsova / Pexels)

JAKARTA - Has your little one ever refused the food you gave him? No need to be sad, mother. There are many factors that make a child refuse to eat, one of which is because he is not hungry. Launching the Parenting page on Wednesday, Rachel Goldman, Ph.D, FTOS, psychologist and wellness consultant from the Department of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine, USA says that children naturally eat when they feel hungry and stop when they feel full.

Given that toddlers already have a natural tendency to eat mindfully, it's important to nurture this skill. "Therefore, the future of children as mindful eaters, depends on the ability of adults to separate their own relationship with food from their children," said nutritionist Chelsey Amer, MS, RDN, from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

By implementing mindful eating, there is less risk of children overeating so that they are overweight. In addition, they will also get more enjoyment when eating. Here are some things you can try to train mindful eating in children.

Let choose

It is the parents who prepare the menu for the children. However, give children the opportunity to choose the food they want to eat first. This teaches them to eat mindfully and to focus on body signals.

Activate the senses

What is meant by mindful eating apart from eating without distraction is enjoying all the sensory sensations of what is eaten, seeing it, smelling it, feeling its texture, tasting it, and hearing its sound when in the mouth.

Try asking the child to take one food on the table that he wants. Then, ask her questions like, “what color is it? What is the shape? Is it rough or soft? Squishy or dense? Crunchy or mushy?”

Pay attention to his attention span

You should remind yourself of being realistic about attention spans at this age. Children's attention span is still limited. So, can not be forced to sit too long and focus on eating. Limit eating time to thirty minutes at most.

Don't Force and Don't Be Fooled

If the child has refused to eat, then avoid forcing him. Forcing them to continue eating would only interfere with the aforementioned natural skills. Not only that, don't trick them with words like, “One more thing, come on. Finally, here," but you never stop feeding your little one.

If your child is showing signs that they don't want to eat anymore, try saying "I'm full, aren't you?" This will make them learn that the reason they stop eating is because they are full.