Making the Most of Mealtimes with Young Children

1. Making the Most of Mealtimes with Young Children Insert Date Insert Name of Instructor

2. Welcome

3. Topics we will cover today include: • Describe what a Healthy Mealtime Philosophy (ATTITUDE) is; based on Ellyn Satter’s Approach and the Division of Responsibility in Feeding.

4. Topics we will cover today include: • Learn steps in creating a mealtime setting that supports healthy, pleasant mealtimes.

5. Topics we will cover today include: • Participate in group activities learning what to say and what not to say to encourage healthy eating in a supportive manner. • Participate in group activities dealing with challenging feeding issues.

6. Acknowledge credit to: • Credit to Ellyn Satter Associates for the teaching materials and handouts. www.EllynSatter.com • Helping Children Eat and Grow Well in Child Care, Pam Estes, Ellyn Satter Institute • Dr. Janice Fletcher and Dr. Laurel Branen, University of Idaho, Feeding Young Children in Group Settings • Child Care Resources in Missoula, MT • Jennifer Swartz and Judy Kendall • Ellyn Satter Approach to Feeding Correspondence Course • Montana Child and Adult Care Food Program Staff • Phone (406) 444-4347, Toll free (888) 307-9333 • Montana Team Nutrition Program

7. Are Mealtimes Important in Childcare? • WHY? • What life-skills/health habits do children learn at mealtime? • Mealtime experiences now shape future relationships with food.

8. ES Approach to Feeding • The Feeding Relationship • Raising COMPETENT and CAPABLE Eaters • The way feeding is conducted can support a child being competent with eating, growing appropriately, and doing her part to contribute to mealtime harmony. (Or not!)

9. A Positive Feeding Relationship maintains a Division of Responsibility • Adults do the what, when, where of feeding. • Children do the how much and whether of eating.

10. Division of Responsibility for Infants • The parent/caregiver is responsible for what • The child is responsible for how much (and everything else)

11. Division of Responsibility for Toddlers through Adolescents • The parent/caregiver is responsible for what, when, where • The child is responsible for how much and whether

12. Jobs adults need to do with feeding: • Choose and prepare the food • Provide regular meals and snacks • Make eating times pleasant • Show children what they have to learn about food and mealtime behavior • Not let children graze for food or drinks between times • Let children grow into the bodies that are right for them

13. If adults do their jobs with feeding, children will do their jobs with eating. • Children will eat • They will eat the amount they need • They will eat an increasing variety of food • They will grow predictably • They will learn to behave well at the table

14. Division of Responsibility and Healthy Feeding Relationship • Children are born wanting to eat, knowing how much to eat and will grow the way nature intended. • Healthy Feeding preserves these qualities throughout the growing up years. • Adults provide structure, support and opportunities. • Children choose how much and whether to eat from what the adults provide.

15. Think about the ES Approach to Feeding as we watch a few video clips…… • Toddler • Preschooler

16. What makes you feel good about this meal? • What makes you feel not so good about it?

17. COMPARE WITH HEAD START PERFORMANCE STANDARDS • Offer variety to broaden child’s food experiences • Don’t use food as punishment or reward • Encourage but don’t force child to taste food • Allow sufficient time for each child to eat • Children, staff and volunteers eat together • Offer all the same food

18. What is the purpose of showing these videos? • Do I have to do something as soon as I get back to my center? • No…… we want you to think about the feeding relationship, be watchful and aware of what you and your staff do and say at mealtime. • Consider how you feel about this personally.

19. Why is a Healthy Feeding Relationship important for life-long health and building a foundation for healthy kids?

20. Parents and Providers want to know: • How do I get my children to eat? • The right food? • The right amount of food?

21. The Answers • You don’t GET your child to eat • She gets herself to eat • Your child knows how much to eat • He will grow the way nature intended • You play a supporting role • Moreover…. Your child will eat the way YOU do

22. Don’t make it complicated!The ES Method: • Is simple and practical • Is based on trust, respect and developmental stages • Makes feeding easier, less stressful and more enjoyable • Allows clear lines of responsibility for caregiver, parent and child • Takes the worry out of feeding

23. Children are UNPREDICTABLE eaters • A lot one day, a little the next • Not a square meal • Eat what they like, not what they “should” • Accept foods one day, reject the next • Rarely eat a new food

24. What research tells us about how kids eat • Fascinating stuff that kids are born with! • Ability to self regulate food intake • Prefer high calorie, energy dense foods • Scared of the new from 2-6 yrs • Timeline to keep trying. 6-8 weeks! • Wide variances meal to meal; day to day

25. What research tells us about how kids eat • Children eat what they know and like • Offer familiar and new foods together • Children tried a new food quicker and eat more of it when adults are eating the same food (and eating it enthusiastically.) • Portion size affects how much they eat • If self serve, they take an age appropriate portion size and eat less of it.

26. What happens when adults cross the line of the Division of Responsibility…. • When adults restrict foods/calories, children gain MORE weight. • When adults pressure, bribe or coerce children to eat more, the children eat LESS. • Kids feel bad about themselves and mealtime is not pleasant for anyone.

27. Self-Reflection • Our history with feeding and eating influences how we act and what we think! • Consider these questions and how these situations can cross the lines of the Division of Responsibility in Feeding.

28. Food Acceptance • At your family table, were allowed to pick and choose from what was available? • Did your parents (or you) make special food-or short order cook? • Did you have rules about what you had to eat? • Did you have to hurdle- eat this before you could eat that? • Did you have the one-bite rule? • Did you have to eat certain foods before you could eat dessert? • Did your parents eat the same foods they made for you?

29. Food Regulation • At you family table, were you allowed to eat as much or as little as you were hungry for? • Did you have to clean your plate? • Were you restricted in the amounts you could eat? • Was there only so much food to go around? • Were you allowed to eat as much as you wanted of some foods but not of others (even though there was enough of everything)? • Did your parents eat less than they wanted (even though there was enough of everything)?

30. About our eating • Can you depend on your sensations of hunger and fullness to tell you how much to eat? • What do you think your upbringing has to do with your capability-or lack of it? • Take emotions out of feeding and follow hunger and satiety cues.

31. Let’s take what we’ve learned about feeding in a healthy way and built it into a Healthy Mealtime Philosophy for your programs.

32. Healthy Mealtime Philosophy for Child Care • Let’s look at some sample Healthy Mealtime/Child Feeding Policies. Based on the Division of Responsibility in Feeding

33. 10 Steps Handout

34. Family Style Meals Tips for success What elements of Family Style Meals support a Healthy Feeding Philosophy? How does it work in your programs? Using it with different age groups.

35. A quick word about gourmet eaters • Let them be responsible for whether and how much • They are served the same meal as everyone else • Encourage; don’t bribe, coerce, trick • Don’t label with negative terms “picky, etc.”

36. Let’s Practice • Group Activities • What to Say and What Not to Say • What do you say to be encouraging at meal time?

37. Think of a challenging feeding situation. • How would a clear mealtime philosophy help solve this challenging situation? • Educating parents on a healthy feeding philosophy and the division of responsibility.

38. Questions/Comments • Sharing Time • Learning from each other • What works for your program? • What do you need ideas on/tips for?

39. Healthy KidsHealthy Communities Together Everyone Achieves More

40. Thank You! Insert contact information for the class instructor here.