{"id":9403,"date":"2024-02-08T17:02:48","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T23:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olinca.edu.mx\/2024\/02\/08\/shaping-food-relationships\/"},"modified":"2025-03-04T16:39:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T22:39:26","slug":"shaping-food-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olinca.edu.mx\/en\/2024\/02\/08\/shaping-food-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaping food relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Why is childhood such an important time for shaping food relationships?<\/strong><\/h3>

When it comes to feeding a child, there\u2019s a lot more to it than simply filling them up. Whilst, of course, that is important, many other considerations influence a child\u2019s future health, habits, cravings and emotional attachments to food. Feeding a child in the early years is also shaping their adult relationship with food.<\/p>

We all know that our relationship with food is a strong one, for some people it\u2019s a life-long love-hate relationship, largely perpetuated by the diet and weight loss industry which has many confusing and contradictory messages. For many, the habits and attachments around food stem back to the early years; we may not realise just how important our actions are around food, but children in the formative years are picking up on subtle food cues and patterns that can play an important role in future health.<\/p>

Early taste preferences<\/strong><\/h4>

In the years between 0 and 3, we have a real window of opportunity to influence and shape taste preferences, habits and food behaviours, as it is at this time that we can consider the child\u2019s palate to be a blank canvas, receptive to whatever you introduce them to.<\/p>

It isn\u2019t just the food\u2026it\u2019s the way we introduce food which can have a bearing on the way it is received. If we are very excited to introduce a young child to cake, they will pick up on our excitement before they even taste the food. Likewise, if we are apologetic about vegetables as we feel they should be eaten, our body language will reflect this, and the food will not be as well received – before it is even tasted!<\/p>

Food language & emotional connections<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>

One of the easiest ways to make this link is via the language we use around food; how we can emphasise certain foods and create positive or negative associations. One example is when trying to get children to eat vegetables, often people will offer a food incentive to get the child to eat the vegetable.<\/p>

For example: \u201cEat your broccoli and you can have the chocolate.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYou\u2019re not having a \u2018treat\u2019 until you have eaten your carrots.\u201d<\/p>

In this scenario, the vegetable becomes the \u2018bad guy\u2019 – the obstacle which needs to be overcome to get to the \u2018good stuff\u2019. The unhealthy food, often labelled as a \u2018treat\u2019 becomes the goal, the reward, and the positive association is aimed at the unhealthy food, therefore the healthy food is portrayed negatively. This may be said innocently, but it creates associations with foods and where possible, we want the associations created to be those which view healthy foods in a good light!<\/p>

Emotional eating<\/strong><\/h4>

As we know, many people turn to food in times of sadness, stress, fatigue, illness, and celebration – together we group this as \u2018emotional eating\u2019. We are not born with emotional eating tendencies, they are taught. Once again, innocent phrases and eating patterns can create associations in our brains that link certain foods with attempts to fix emotional issues. Sadly, biology will never support this and emotional eating leads to many metabolic and neurological issues.<\/p>

Below are some examples of common phrases and situations where food is used with children that can potentially lead to \u2018emotional-eating\u2019 adults.<\/p>

Scenario one<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>

Child falls over and hurts themselves, not seriously, but enough to make them feel upset. The grown-up naturally goes to comfort the child. They pick them up, cuddle them and say:<\/p>

\u201cLet\u2019s sit down for a minute and have a biscuit\/piece of chocolate\/sweet. That\u2019ll make you feel better\u201d.<\/p>

It may seem a perfectly innocuous thing to do and say, but the child on a deep subconscious level creates an association with the unhealthy food offered and comfort, even though the act that calms the child down is the cuddle and the nice words, not the food. For adults, the association remains (via our neural pathways which, on a biological level remember these connections, the strongest connections are formed before the age of 3). But for the grown-up, it could be any prolonged situation that causes them upset and stress and eating biscuits is certainly not going to fix the issues, it\u2019s more than likely to cause more.<\/p>

The biology of emotional eating<\/strong><\/h4>

As with every aspect of eating, our biology plays a big part and not just with the physical digestion but with our mind too. When it comes to emotional eating, food will never fix things \u2013 and here\u2019s why: –<\/p>

Mood dip<\/strong><\/h4>