What Are You Worried About? Part 3 Food ‘Obsession’
This is part 3 of a 5 part series on food preoccupation. Read Part 1, Max’s Journey of Healing and Part 2, Is My Child Obsessed with Food? This is a long post because the fear of fat and the consequences of that worry are harmful, and barrier to supportive feeding… The food preoccupied child is anxious and works hard to get food. The worried parent keeps food from the child. The harder the child works to get food, the harder the parents have to work to keep food away, even...
Read MoreHealing a Child’s Food “Obsession” (Part 1): Max’s Story
This is not Max, but isn’t he cute? Now Max also enjoys treats as a part of a healthy relationship with food. Helping Max Heal From Food ‘Obsession’ One of the most common issues I support parents around is the child who is preoccupied or “obsessed” with food. After a call with a client who has turned the corner, I was inspired to share their story (with permission and details changed). Max is on his way to becoming a competent eater. What this...
Read MoreScaring Parents to Motivate Healthy Feeding? (With a Note About Accurate Measurements)
Does this look like the chart of a child who is “failing to thrive?” Worry, worry, worry! All good parents are doing it! “She’ll need a feeding tube if you can’t get her to eat more.” “She has pre-prediabetes…” The parents I talk to, and emails I read are increasingly suffused with fear and anxiety. A very few cases are true emergencies, with children dropping weight or refusing anything by mouth, but many terrified and tearful...
Read MoreCut Kids Some Slack: Musings on Food Fears and “Helpful” Others
Scared of dogs When M was little she had a dog phobia. I’m talking screaming, climbing on me, uncontrollable fear of even a toy poodle. I can’t count how many people tried to talk her out of her fear, usually with a dog thrust into her personal space, and often against my explicit requests for them to stop. Take the German Shepherd owner whose dog was off-leash, jumping on me while M clawed at my hair shrieking, and the owner kept smiling, “Oh, she won’t hurt you!...
Read MoreAre teachers or parents responsbile for teaching kids about food?
“Timmy, repeat after me: sugar is the devil.” School is back in session. These are nervous days as many parents on my Facebook page share stories about teachers pushing kids to eat, children with food aversions being shamed and in tears, children eating in loud, crowded cafeterias with only fifteen minutes to eat etc. (Here and more school horror stories.) Then I came across this document on facebook that parents are encouraged to give to a child’s teachers. I hope...
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Recent Comments
katja on Healing a Child’s Food “Obsession” (Part 1): Max’s Story
Thank you so much for chiming in and sharing how hard the process can be. So many parents give up...Anonymous on Healing a Child’s Food “Obsession” (Part 1): Max’s Story
Hi everyone. I am so happy that Max's story was so helpful to so many parents; it was largely...katja on Healing a Child’s Food “Obsession” (Part 1): Max’s Story
Oh Rachel, hang in there. There are many, many parents in the same boat, alas. I would encourage you to...Rachel on Healing a Child’s Food “Obsession” (Part 1): Max’s Story
I cried with relief reading this, thank you so much for being vocal about this as my son is exactly...katja on Trying to Get Kids to Eat Less Backfires: Part 4 Food ‘Obsession’
Send a friend request to Bonnie Appetites on facebook, then you will get an invite to the group. We do...