Creating Healthy Habits: Setting Limits Around Food

Setting reasonable limits around food is critical to creating healthy habits for your children and family. Here are a few great rules/suggestions that I have collected over the years from families, pediatricians and psychologists:

• Three Bite Rule - Eat what is prepared for dinner (assuming it is reasonable) or you must try 3 bites before you leave the table.

• Do Not be a Short Order Cook – see the Three Bite Rule. Kids can try three bites and if they still don’t like it, they can be excused from dinner – for the night!  

Do Not go into the kitchen to make them mac and cheese! Pediatricians have told me time and again that it is OK for a child to go to bed hungry. Remember, it may not even be about the food. Your children are testing you to see if they can get what they want. Your children will not starve if they end up going to bed without dinner.  Hopefully, if you are able to stick to your rule, they will learn that they need to at least try to eat what is served – or they won’t get dinner. 

• Kitchen is closed at 7 pm. Close the kitchen! It is very reasonable to say that NO ONE can go in the kitchen after dinner for food (nonfat milk, tea and water can be exceptions). Your entire family will be healthier if you implement this rule.

• Create Dessert Night(s) Select 1-2 nights a week for Dessert Night. Eating dessert every night is not a healthy habit to teach our kids. Many of the families I work with who are now struggling with their weight, say that they grew up in homes that had dessert every night - those habits often get repeated in our own households. We do want to create a healthier attitude towards dessert including learning how to budget and plan a head for a special treat. Setting aside a couple nights a week for dessert is very reasonable. Try to eat it out of the house to make it a special event. Also, enjoying dessert out of the house will reduce the chance of tempting leftovers.