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Why, why don't kids eat?? Don’t they ever feel hungry??

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The most common thing mothers of young kids complain about is Meal-time struggles. Only those who suffer from it know how painful and stressful it can be.  

And Many of us resort to mealtime distractions because it seems like the only thing that works. Screens, games, loud music, jingles on TVs - these have become the tools we use to distract our kids while we feed them.

In most cases we, parents, give into meal-time distractions because of a genuine concern that our child is not getting enough calories or “looks” underweight.

But this whole practice is counterintuitive really. Because your child’s eating habit will not get better before you get rid of all distractions.

What do I mean?

For understanding that we need to understand how kids LEARN to eat in the first place...

How do kids LEARN to Eat?

Infants actually start their life with very little taste preferences’. The preferences are later shaped by the culture, family and societal influences.

Research identified that children aged 6 months to 3 years have the highest capability to learn new tastes, as in this time they are exposed to different types of stimulation.

A systematic literature review of 48 scientific papers suggested that the child learns to eat with the aid of four processes.  

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1. Repetitive exposure of new food

Children learn to eat different food when they are given the same item repeatedly to make him/her familiar with the taste, texture and also the appearance. It is called the familiarization process.

If a baby tries something 6-8 times before they turn 1 year old or learns walking, they're very likely to form a preference for that food. Sometimes it takes upto 15 times to create this preference.

But 94% of parents will give up before 6 tries, thinking “my baby doesn't like this”. But babies are not supposed to learn to like something the first time it goes into their mouth. Instead, they will learn to like something once we have consistently tried to feed that item multiple times.

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2. Social interaction and observation

It’s the way children imitate and learn from others how to eat a particular type of food. This method is called observational learning process.

Babies have a natural tendency to imitate, especially people who they are attached to. Parents/siblings are therefore highly influential role models in shaping a baby’s food preference.

Not only preference, a baby will follow what you eat, how you put the food in your mouth, how you chew and how you swallow. It might come naturally to us grown-ups, but babies need to learn first.

This is why our kids learn to use their hands to eat while some learn to use forks and other, chopsticks!

So let your child see you eat, let them join the dining table during family meals. Let them observe and learn.

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3. Learning the taste of new food by combining with known one:

This process is called Flavour-Flavour learning. By this process a novel flavor may be liked by its repetitive exposure with another known flavour.

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4. Recognition of food by repetitive plate familiarization:

The process is for older children. It denotes the ability of the children to identify the food they have already eaten from a plate multiple times in a more complex way. It is called the categorization of foods.

However, the literature suggests that what infants are willing to consume depends on their ability to recognize items on their plate as familiar examples of that food type.

During the first three years of life children are more receptive to eating new food. So, it is recommended to get them familiar with different tastes and types of food to expand their food preferences for later stages of life.

It is also helpful to know that during these first 3 years of life, children lock their preferences of food for lifelong. Later it can be modified, but not that much as in the early years of life.  

The bottom line, babies need to learn to have a healthy eating habit. And how can they learn when they are always distracted by screens, games, sounds and jingles while they eat?!

Impact of Screen Addiction on Eating Habits:

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As you have now learnt the science behind how a child learns to eat, you can surely guess why screens during meal-times is a very very bad idea.  

Not only during meal-time, but having too much screen-time as a whole has extremely harmful impacts on children. Here are some of the damaging impacts on eating behavior that can be found in younger children as well as older ones due to excessive screen time.

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Lack of taste sense

When younger children watch television/screen while eating, they actually start swallowing the food without tasting and knowing what they are actually eating.

It is suggested by the health professionals and paediatrics’ to talk and interact as much as possible while feeding the young children. By following the measure children start perceiving the taste and practicing a good eating habit.

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Swallowing problem

This also applies for younger children. When kids are watching the screen, they actually provide their full focus into the screen. Can you guess what may happen?

Research found that the young children who watch screen (television, mobile or laptop) while eating face swallowing problems as they don’t learn how to chew the food properly.

When they are served with solid food they try to swallow without chewing. This habit stays with him even after 3 years of age.

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Doesn’t understand when & how much to eat

Children eating food without giving any attention might not understand their satiety point, meaning when they feel full. As they don’t know their satiety they unknowingly eat more or less.

Some kids just leave the food as it creates distraction while watching something. While other kids overeat as they are too engaged with the screen and fail to identify their own satiety point.

In cases of younger kids, they do not even learn to understand how hunger feels, because their brain is elsewhere. Result? We feed our children according to our own preferences.

But everyone has their own designated requirement and satiety point. When children start eating more than the requirement unknowingly, they start getting unhealthy and gain weight which further hampers their bone & muscle development.

Binge eating:

Binge eating is the way of eating high caloric food within a short span of time, especially consuming the food that contains more salt, sugar, and chemicals. It’s a common practice for the older children to eat certain foods like chips, colas, popcorn, cakes, fast food items, ice cream etc., at the time of watching screen.

Binge eating can affect the children in two different ways.

1. Overeating: While watching screens children eat food without noticing the fullness of their stomach, so they end up eating more than they are supposed to eat.

Also, having snacks at the wrong time with high calorie food often leads to an unhealthy food habit which eventually results in childhood obesity.

2. Eating less: Children are different from each other. Untimely snacks while watching the screen often results in meal skipping for some children.  Due to skipping the regular meal they are preventing themself from getting beneficial nutrients from the diet required for their healthy growth and development.

These kids usually suffer from undernourishment and low immunity. They fall sick very easily. Just think how screen addiction can negatively impact on children’s health and wellbeing.

Food denial

Older children who watch screen from the very early year of their life are more prone to deny eating different types of healthy foods. They don’t like to eat the food which is less tasty as their taste buds don’t recognize the taste prominently.

We have already discussed the reason behind this. Most of the children who watch screen and don’t pay attention to food while eating from weaning to the first 3 years of life are less likely to eat a wide variety of food. As they only gulp rather than perceive the taste at the time when their taste preference develops.  

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Low metabolism and indigestion

Sitting in the same position before the screen with almost no movement reduces the metabolic rate of the human body resulting in childhood obesity.

This can also cause indigestion of food in kids. They might suffer from nutrient deficiency even after eating almost right!

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Hunger issues

Children who watch the screen late at night might have disturbed sleeping. Research identified that short sleeping cycles facilitate the production of hunger hormone ghrelin. Ghrelin increases hunger among children and also aids in fat storage.

On the other hand, short sleep decreases leptin level, a hormone responsible for energy expenditure, that speeds up the weight gaining process.

10 ideas to have a Gadget free Meal time for your kids

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Scared after reading about the harmful effects of screens? Wondering what to do? That's where we can help!

We will be presenting you with the top 10 ideas that, if implemented right, can establish a healthy eating habit in your children and also reduce screen addiction at the meal time.  

But before we start please note one thing.

Developing an appropriate food habit from the beginning is crucial. According to the research on early childhood taste acquisition, children who are exposed to nutritious & different varieties of food from the very early stage of life, become better eaters later in life.

So start early to get the best benefit!

Now, here are  10 comprehensive ideas to have a gadget-free mealtime.

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1. Buy Feeding chair and let them join the family meals

For younger children it’s important for the parents to buy them a feeding chair specifically designed for them so that they can have their meal with their family.

Now we know, at first it’s not possible to feed your baby their full meal with the family. But even then, let them accompany the full family while they dine. Also give them some bits and pieces of what the family is eating.

By doing this babies will learn how & what to eat by observing the food habits of their family members, which is one of the core processes children use to develop their food and eating habits.

If you start this practice from an early stage, by the time kids are 2-3, they become able to eat most of their food on their own.

This also allows the child to interact with the family during meal-time, which is a great family bonding time and takes away the need to use screens or other forms of distractions to feed.

However before introducing a feeding chair, make sure your baby has good head control and back muscle coordination. He or she should at least be able to sit a significant amount of time without the aid of back support (not fall over while sitting)

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2. Allow the mess while they eat on their own

Oftentimes we avoid letting our kids eat on their own simply because “they make a mess”. We know it increases some work for us parents to clean up after they are done, but in the long run it helps the kids to learn how to eat on their own. Think how that can reduce time, stress and worry for us!

So when the children start grasping (mostly children near one year of age), we need to allow them to eat by their own hand to practice self-feeding. We need to provide them with different types of food. Allow them to eat by themselves even if they are going to make a lot of mess.

By doing this kids will take eating as fun. Touching the food will give them the idea about the shape, texture of the food, seeing it and tasting it will help them to develop taste preferences. Putting it inside their mouth will teach them hand-eye coordination. Having full focus on the food overall will help in building healthy eating habits.

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3. Establish a healthy routine for food

If your child already has the habit of watching screens during meal time then first you need to make a routine for them for the transition. The rules are quite simple.

You need to decide the time they become hungry enough to have a meal but not starve. You also need to decide their snack time and no food time.

Young children need to eat often — as much as six times a day, including three meals and two or three snacks. Keep this in mind as you establish a pattern of meal and snacks.

It is also suggested that you should not try to feed your child for more than 30 minutes at a time. Kids lose interest and start building a negative relationship with foods if you try for too long.  

At least 2 to 3 hours of gap between two meals would increase the possibility of your child being the “right amount of hungry” and be more interested to eat. This will subsequently reduce the need to use screens to feed as well.

Can kids skip a meal?

Here it is important to talk about this as well. Sometimes kids just do not want to eat. In those times it advised to stick to the routine.

A child who skips a meal finds it reassuring to know when to expect the next one. We should avoid offering snacks, juice, junk food right before a meal as it will ruin their appetite and decrease the chance of eating the next meal as well.

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4. Respect your child's choice

When your child isn't hungry, please don't force a meal or snack. Also forcing kids to eat a certain item because “it’s healthy” doesn't really work. Instead this only creates more resistance from the child. In addition, your child might come to associate mealtime with anxiety and frustration or become less sensitive to his or her own hunger and fullness cues.

Serve small portions to avoid overwhelming your child and give him or her the opportunity to independently ask for more.

However, as parents we need to stop ourselves from giving into the Junk Food Trap! Kids need to eat healthy to get all the nutrients their growing bodies need. Drinks, store-bought juices, chips, candies are “junk foods" and shouldn't be part of their diet even when the child choses!

Even if our child likes candy or chips or other junk foods, as parents we need to create healthy boundaries. After all, a child cannot go to the store to buy these items, so just don't keep them in the house.

If your child asks for candy, simply say, "We don't have any candy." Then present two healthy snack alternatives to choose from. Even a child who acts out because of the lack of candy, will still enjoy the sense of control from deciding which healthy snack to eat.

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5. Make meal-time fun time

Usually when kids refuse to eat, parents start dreading meal-times. The thought that overrules every other thought is “Will he eat this time?!” We approach feeding with a negative anticipation and kids can sense that. They are really smart you know!!

We need to approach feeding with a different attitude. Something the child will look forward to. We need to make meal-time FUN TIME!

Some fun ideas can be

• Ask your child to give a score and rank all items based on how it tastes
• Challenge them to tell the names of the vegetables/items on the plate
• Get creative - with colour, plating, shapes etc.

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6. Keep patience and consistency:

Consistency is the key to making any change sustainable. You can start a gadget free meal for 5 minutes and gradually improve it for the whole of the meal time.  

If your children disagree then just don’t give up. Follow the process in a much slower way. If he eats less then, to meet the dietary demand, you always can add an additional snack time.

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7. Offer attractive food

Both young children and older one love food that looks good. Parents can use little technique to make special food (in different shapes and plating differently) and serve it on attractive plates for them. It’s just a method to divert their interest to food.

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8. Ask your children to help in cooking

Children love to help. From the very early stage we can ask them to help us in cooking food. When they eat the food they help in cooking, their focus will automatically shift from other things. That might help reduce addiction from the early stage of life.

9. At least one meal all together:

Family cohesiveness might help. A famous saying goes “Family that eats together stays together”. In today’s world it is nearly impossible to eat three times together at the dining table, but we can at least make it once in a day.

By practicing this child understands what to eat, how to eat, when to eat and can learn selecting their food preferences.

On the other hand, parents also get the idea of what they need to serve their children. They can also regulate how much their child should eat. It actually lessens the chances of both overeating and less eating.

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10. Set a good example:

We cannot stress on this enough. Kids learn by seeing US! If we maintain a good eating habit, bond as a family over meal-time, avoid gadgets while eating, kids will follow suit. We cannot expect our kids to follow something we don't follow ourselves!

Take home message:

Let us summarize the key points for you that you need to keep in your mind if you want to build a healthy eating habit in your child:  

• We need to mend our steps before expecting or making any changes in our kid’s life. Try to give them a live example on how they should behave while eating.

• As continuous exposure to certain food during early life increases the chance to eat that in later life. So, you need to bring a variety of foods for your little one to give them appropriate exposure.
• And lastly, you can always be creative enough to find your own way to establish a gadget free healthy eating habit. You can share the ideas with us also.
• If yoru child has too much screen addiction that is hampering their food habit as well as daily activities, you can read our blog on "A Complete Guide on fighting Screen Addiction in kids".

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