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A Mom & RD's View on Halloween Candy

How Much Halloween Candy Do You Let Your Children Eat?
By Elyse Falk, MS, RD, CDN

My kids, like all of yours, will be trick-or-treating soon.  The age-old questions always arise amongst my friends, “How much candy do you let your kids eat?”  “Do you throw it all out?”  “Do you donate it?” “Do you let them have a little bit of candy all week long?”  “Do you let them have the candy all at once?”

Photo Credit: EJP Photo via Compfight cc

I think my kids are like any other kids and love to eat their treats the night of Halloween.  Heck, I love to eat the candy we are giving out and the candy my kids collect too!   As a family, we know that too much candy in one night will make us feel sick (evidenced by real-life events).  So, I have the kids pick a few pieces to eat on Halloween night, put the rest in zip-lock bags labeled with their names for safe keeping, and place the bags in the pantry closet.  I find that if it’s not spread out on the kitchen counter all day, every day, it’s less likely that they will mindlessly snack on it.  I guess my sons would say that I let them enjoy their Halloween candy but put a limit on it only when the other food groups are being left out.  I may tell them to pair some pieces of candy with a nutrient-rich meal or snack.  Pairing some candy like this is always an option … it gives less value to the candy.

 

Interestingly enough, as the week progresses, their desire for the candy diminishes.  My truth is that the more I limit it, the more my kids want it.  It’s a great opportunity for them to learn moderation and to always know the candy is there when they want it and that I am not going to make a big deal about it.  If on any one Halloween night they do overeat the candy, it is certain that they will not feel good.  I chalk that up to a teachable moment.  If you treat the topic of the candy more neutrally, with less emotion or judgment, the Halloween candy won’t be a “thing” between you and your children.

Photo Credit: MattL via Compfight cc

Lastly, I believe that eating some candy with your kids is a must!  They need to know that eating a few pieces of candy on Halloween is okay and normal.  This is especially true when you have a child who may have heard sugar and candy is a “bad” food from a friend.  Remember, we as parents are role models.  I hope that we can teach them that there is no “bad” or “forbidden” food and that sometimes, on occasions such as Halloween, it is okay to enjoy some candy.  Happy Halloween!

Disclaimer:

We only call it treats due to Halloween but they are really candy, food, or food with lower nutrition.

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No Tricks, Just Treats!

No Tricks, Just Treats!

Photo Credit: base10 via Compfight cc

Halloween is around the corner and kids are looking forward to trick or treating for their favorite candies! Trick or treating is a great memory for kids to make and can be so much fun, but for children with allergies, the candy they get in their bags matters more than those without them. So your child does not have to miss out on any of the fun, here are some great allergy free options for your favorite witch or goblin!

Though these products are reportedly allergy free, always check labels to make sure!

Photo Credit: Special via Compfight cc

Peanut and Tree Nut Free

  • Skittles
  • Peeps
  • Swedish Fish
  • Altoids Mints, Original & Cinnamon (not Chocolate variety)
  • Mike and Ikes
  • Hershey (plain) chocolate bars, personal size only (not King size, not Minis) 
  • Hershey (plain) chocolate Kisses (not King Size, not Holiday/Seasonal Bags)
  • Laffy Taffy
  • Runts
  • Dubble Bubble gum
  • Tootsie Pops & Tootsie Rolls (anything made by Tootsie) 
  • Junior Mints
  • Smarties
  • Sour Patch Kids – all kinds!
  • Whoppers
  • Sweet Tarts
  • Dum Dum lollipops
  • Jolly Rancher hard candy, lollipops and gummi candy
  • York Peppermint Patties
  • Twizzlers
  • Rolos

These candies contain no wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish or shellfish:

  • Smarties
  • Dots
  • Pixy Stix
  • Ring Pops
  • Skittles
  • Sour Patch Kids
  • Mike and Ike
  • Jolly Rancher Hard Candies
  • Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
  • Charms Blow Pops

This year, the Food Allergy Research & Education organization is asking houses offering non-food treats, such as toys, stickers, or crayons, to paint a pumpkin teal to show to parents of young ones with allergies there are safe options available! Check out the initiative here: Teal Pumpkin Project

Photo Courtesy of FARE

 

Disclaimer:

We only call it treats due to Halloween but they are really candy, food, or food with lower nutrition.

 

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Halloween Recipe Round-Up

With Halloween less than 2 weeks away, we’ve been searching for some festive recipes and activities to get into the spirit. Luckily there are tons of fun ideas on the internet! Here’s a few that we especially enjoyed:

Banana Ghosts from Weelicious

All you need for this festive snack is some bananas, chocolate chips, and/or raisins! They’re super cute and serve as a healthy after school snack. (Psst! Check out their tangerine pumpkins, too.)

Photo Courtesy of Cooking Light

Bittersweet Chocolate Cookies from Cooking Light

This recipe is a bit more labor intensive than the last, but it serves as a great weekend activity to get the family together in the kitchen!

Photo courtesy of Litehouse Herbs

Litehouse Foods’ Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes from Litehouse Foods

Have a cupcake decorating party and let your kids decorate their pumpkin cupcakes with Halloween themes! This pumpkin spice cupcake recipe from Litehouse Foods makes a great addition to a Halloween party.

For more great ideas, check out CNN’s guide to Healthy Halloween Recipes by clicking here.

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How We Do Dessert

“What’s For Dessert?”
By Adina Pearson, RDN of Healthy Little Eaters

Photo Credit: Alexis Fam Photography via Compfight cc

Why I Serve Dessert With The Meal

In most households, dessert is served at the end of the meal.  When everyone has gotten their fill of the main course and sides and is patting their full tummy in satisfaction, the hostess clears the table, vanishes into the kitchen, and then reappears flashing a proud smile as she presents…DESSERT:  The decadent reward for getting full on nutrition!  The hard work is done, you may now enjoy a moment of pleasure.

^Not teaching that lesson is one reason why we now serve dessert with the meal in our house.  I don’t want to teach the unintended lesson that dessert is for full bellies.  I want my children to stay tuned in to their signals of fullness and satisfaction.  Sweets are desirable enough to children that they can learn to override their fullness if they have to do it to get cookies–especially if cookies are scarce.  A small study in Appetite demonstrated that kids will eat more calories in order to squeeze in dessert if it was served at the end of the meal.   The study authors interpreted the results as a way to help kids eat fewer calories.  But that’s not really what I take from this.  I’m not into micromanaging calories because I think kids do an adequate job of regulating themselves when they get reliable meals and snacks.  What I take from this is that the way we feed our kids can either support their natural self-regulation and ability to respect their fullness or it can teach them to overeat to get what they really want.  My personal experience is that if they know it’s coming, they’ll just get antsy at the table or become preoccupied enough with the-sweet-thing-to-come that they won’t stop to eat the main meal.  It certainly was the case with my 4 year old before we made the switch.  But each child is different and older kids may be more willing to do the required ‘eat your veggies first’ work in order to win pie at the end.

That’s something else I don’t want to teach.  I don’t want the meal to be considered ‘work’ while the dessert is elevated to a higher status.  When it comes to picky eaters it is all too easy to slip into the dessert-for-broccoli power struggle: Okay, darling, eat another bite of your chicken and two more bites of your broccoli and then you can have dessert.  I see this happen in the families who come to me for nutrition counseling.  I see it happen with picky eaters whose parents are worried because of their low weight and with picky eaters whose parents are concerned because of their higher weight.  It’s not working for either group.  Broccoli is wonderful!  Chicken is wonderful!  Dessert is wonderful!  Yet we certainly make a big deal out of sweets.  When dessert is a reward it takes on more power.  Kids are already naturally drawn to strong sweet flavors, we don’t need to make those sweet flavors into a bigger deal.  Plus bribery & coercion as well as other types of pressuring kids to eat typically makes them eat worse, not better.

What If That’s All They Eat?

You might now be wondering, what if that’s all they eat?  How can it be okay for kids to survive off of cake and cookies until their tastes mature?  Well, for one thing, I don’t serve dessert at every meal or every day.  How often you serve dessert is entirely up to you.  And portion size matters because, it’s true, dessert may very well interfere with the nutrition of the meal if it is served ad libitum.

It’s Okay to Limit Dessert Served with a Meal

At meals we only serve one portion to each person at the table.  And kids get a ‘child-size’ portion rather than a full adult portion (translate that to suit your preferences).  It’s treated very much like a scarce food item (filet mignon, $9-a-pint raspberries, etc) and there are no seconds.

Some examples of portions I’ve served: 1 square of chocolate, a lollipop, small slice of pie/cake, 1 coconut macaroon, small brownie, 2-3 tiny candy pieces, teacup full of pudding, teacup full of yogurt mixed with fruit, 1/2 to 1 cupcake (depending on size).

If my kids want to start with their cookie, fine.  I know it’s not all they will eat.  And even if my kids gobble up their dessert and consequently decide they are done eating for the meal, they  probably weren’t terribly hungry to begin with.  If that is the case, without that dessert at the table, they would not have eaten much of anything anyway.  The dessert didn’t ruin any appetites, it just masked their lack of appetite.

With my kids, it seems the presence of dessert actually warms them up to the idea of coming to the table and relaxes them immediately, improving their attitude about the meal overall.  They don’t eat any worse, and possibly better with such a sweet ‘appetizer’ on the table.  I love when I catch my oldest going back and forth between bites of dessert and bites of the meal.

Unlimited Portions as Snack

Any food that is scarce, especially one as desirable as sweets, can create a strong preoccupation in a child.  For some kids with a strong sweet tooth, that desire or preoccupation can lead them to overeat the desired food when they get the chance.   Serving only a small child-size portion of dessert creates a kind of scarcity.  To mitigate this scarcity and to allow my kids a chance to regulate their own portion size of dessert, I will, occasionally, serve an unlimited portion of sweets at snack time.  If snack time is appropriately timed (so it’s not too close to the next meal) it won’t interfere with meal food.  Serve the dessert with a glass of milk (for example) and you’ve got a balanced snack.

I have to admit, the first candy experiment left me practically biting my fingernails as I waited for my daughter to complete her snack.  But with each ‘ad lib sweet snack’ I’ve served, I’ve never ever been disappointed in my kids’ ability to stop.  They have never eaten a whole cake, half a cake, or even a quarter of a cake.  And I’m confident that my trusting them teaches them to trust themselves around sweets.  After all we have serious structure in place.  Eating happens seated at the table, not running around.  Eating happens at set meal and snack times, there’s no all-day grazing.   And I get to choose how often I serve various foods.  But within that structure, the freedom of the Division of Responsibility, teaches some important lessons that I don’t think I could teach if I micromanaged every bite.

Photo Credit: chotda via Compfight cc

How Often Should Dessert Be Served?
Honestly, I think only you can answer this question for yourself and your family.  I love desserts and baked goods.  I love chocolate.  I could live without them, but I sure prefer not to.   For me I serve dessert often enough for us.  I know I’ve gone perhaps too long when my kids start begging for dessert–or if I’m longing for it.  And if I serve something sweet just to keep them from feeling too deprived, it doesn’t take much to accomplish my task.

 

Adina Pearson, RDN has been a registered dietitian for 12 years. Before having children of her own, she had no interest in pediatric nutrition. Kids change things! She’s now most thrilled when she sees a child patient on her schedule. Her new passion for helping parents feed their kids well inspired her to start a facebook page and blog. More recently, she has started an online toddler feeding course in collaboration with another dietitian.  Adina lives in southeastern Washington with her husband, two kids, and two labradoodles. To read more on Adina head to her website: www.HealthyLittleEaters.com

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Ice Cream, Brownies and Sweets, Oh MY!!

Photo Credit: kern.justin via Compfight cc

Like I’ve said before, I’m kind of sensitive to the idea of categorizing foods as either “good” or “bad,” not just because I specialize in eating disorders as a professional RD, but also because—on a personal level—I too once restricted myself from sweets and seemingly evil foods. (Really, who hasn’t at some point in their lives?)

My approach may not be black or white, but it’s simple. Rather than distinguishing food as good or bad, I prefer to consider their nutritional value. Some foods, like fruits, vegetables and oatmeal, are wholesome. Others, like brownies and ice cream, are less wholesome (lower in nutritional density). At the end of the day, however, none of these foods should be designated as good or bad.

My goal for my own kids and, for that matter, my clients as well, is to cultivate this neutral mentality. And while my kids may not eat enough vegetables, they at least seem to have mastered this concept.

Here’s a perfect example. On the last weekend of summer, my hubby and I decided to trade in our usual Hamptons weekend for a trip to the Jersey Shore. The kids were thrilled. They love the beach, the ocean and, of course, the ice cream stands lining the two-mile stretch of Wildwood’s boardwalk. They were especially excited to ride the kiddie coaster and eat cups of delicious and refreshing ice cream all weekend. And they did.

On Saturday afternoon, Hubby and Grandpa took Billy and Bobby to the boardwalk to ride the motorcycles, roller coasters and carousel. They topped off the day with ice cream.

Then on Monday, we went back to the boardwalk. Mommy wanted ice cream, so of course the boys asked for ice cream too. Without thinking twice, I said sure. What’s the harm in ice cream, after all?

But what happened next is shocking—even unheard of! (Though in my household, it happens all the time.) Billy took two bites of his vanilla chocolate swirl with rainbow sprinkles before getting distracted by a water gun game and tossing his treat into the nearest garbage bin. Apparently, his desire to win a sword just like Bobby’s was stronger than his need for a sugary snack.

My husband and I stood ogling Billy, who was now ice cream-less. He just threw away a perfectly delicious $4.00 ice cream! It’s not that I wanted him to eat it, especially if he wasn’t hungry, but my hubby and I would have been happy to take it off his hands!

What it comes down to is this: because Billy was never taught to think of ice cream as some taboo form of food, he didn’t feel the need to chomp it down to the last bite. Apparently, he views ice cream as a neutral food. Check!

Recently, I mentioned another example of this while discussing the “one lick rule.” In case you don’t remember, Bobby and Billy had wanted pizza and a brownie, and I allowed the boys to have both. During that instance, the boys were able to use satiation cues as they ate their pizza to save room for their brownie. Even then, they only ate a small portion of the brownie and gave the remainders up. They both did this on their own intuition—so go boys!

Do you discuss different foods in terms of “good” and “bad” in your household? Are your kids able to stop themselves from consuming an entire brownie, or do they prefer the entire treat at once? 

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For Moms and Dads, How to Feed and Be Healthy at Work

Photo Credit: Alexis Fam Photography via Compfight cc

For Moms and Dads, How to Feed and Be Healthy at Work
By Laura Cipullo, RD CDE CEDRD CDN

 

So we all know I am not nutritionally perfect despite the letters after my name. Yup, that’s right, even RD’s especially MOM RD’s who work full time have the same struggles as other parents. To be honest, many of my meals are at my desk and sometimes even during my session with clients (I only eat with certain clients who don’t mind me gobbling an egg salad sandwich and or those who can benefit from role modeling the art of eating all foods – while dropping half on my shirt;)). Do you find yourself in similar situations? I also remember my days working in the corporate world and even the hospital where everyone was gifted with food.

 

And what about snacks? Where do you eat snacks? Are you eating them mindfully?

 

Do you have coworkers who love to stock the office kitchen with chocolates or even keep them on their desk? Is it too easy to grab a handful of candy or pretzels as you walk by the kitchen? Yes, it is a challenge to be healthy in a world of endless food choices. Don’t get me wrong, I love food and love having choice in the food I eat and when I eat it. At the same time, eating at work is a challenge especially if we put our kids’ nutrition as priority (i.e. making them lunch but not ourselves – and yes I do this at times too.)

 

Here are some tips for moms and dads who are getting overwhelmed by choices especially food choices while at work. While a free meal at work sounds nice, these in-house office meals can often be the cause of blood sugar spikes and drastic downers often leading to unproductive employees. In fact, according to a recent article in the New York Post a study found “employees that stick to healthy foods throughout the day to be 25 percent more likely to have higher job performance.”

5 TIPS To Wellness at Work:

  1. Log whether you are eating for emotional, behavioral or physical reasons. You can find a log here.
  2. If you are eating for a nonphysical reason, decide if you truly want to eat due to stress, happiness or boredom.
  3. Put yourself first and pack lunch or get lunch at an outside vendor.
  4. Make a pact with yourself not to eat the office food – no matter what it is. This will help to prevent you from eating mindlessly or due to social pressure. Bring your own foods to work. And yes this could be cookies and milk. The point is you have made a thoughtful decision to include these food choices in your daily intake when you plan and pack.
  5. If you want to partake in an office celebration, promise yourself you will sit down with a cup of milk or tea and eat the cake as your afternoon snack while psychologically enjoying every bite.
  6. If you are waxing and waning over the decision to eat at the office, first try a drink of water or grab a cold seltzer as many times, dehydration and fatigue are triggering our walks to the refrigerator.
Photo Credit: SweetOnVeg via Compfight ccPhoto Credit: SweetOnVeg via Compfight cc

Pack Ahead of the Snack Attack

Another suggestion is to come armed with balanced snacks to avoid having to make choices in the office kitchens. To help, I’ve listed a few office snack favorites below:

  • An apple and 12 nuts
  • A snack bar like LÄRABAR or KIND Bar.
  • Egg with a kick courtesy of Cooking Light
  • Mini pitas with hummus courtesy of Cooking Light
  • Crudité with chopped veggies and Greek yogurt
  • Cottage cheese with mandarin oranges
  • Vanilla Greek Yogurt with a cookie crumbled on top
  • Hot cocoa with a peanut butter pack (like Justin’s).

 

Do you have any tips or tricks to avoid mindless eating while working? We’d love to hear them!

 

To read more on my thoughts on eating in the office click here to be redirected to the New York Post article. And for more healthy office snack ideas, be sure to check out Cooking Light’s Healthy Office Snacks.

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Healthy Halloween Ideas + Wholesome Haunted Halloween Contest Winners!

Happy Almost-Halloween! We are happy to announce the winners of our Wholesome Haunted Halloween Contest with Bitsy’s Brainfood. Our winners were kind enough to share their wonderful ideas for a healthy halloween and we’re very excited to share them with you:

Rachael R:
www.nboysmommy.typepad.com

My BBF (Battle Buddy Forever) Nicky and I met in the Army over a decade ago.  We were literally “Battle Buddies” training to be leaders in the real life transition of adult and womanhood.  We banded together then, to force the change in our lives for better fitness and health. We rendered triumph in our journeys, acknowledging that DIET is an utmost factor.

Today, as mothers, we continue to band together to keep our children enriched with healthy lives.  We value their nutritional foundations. Although we choose health over popularity food with our children, we’re very proud to live our lives in a way where not a single one of them are short on fun or experience just because of a conscious diet.

Our candy-free Halloween celebrations are full of fun, edible indulgences:

  • Bloody Brains (chicken meatloaf and tomato herb sauce)
  • Scrambled Brains (green food colored scrambled eggs)
  • Vampire tongues (crisp bacon) and flying ghouls! Yep, those pancake ghosts fly right into our mouths!
  • Our witch finger breadsticks are LITERALLY finger-licking good
  • WE just forgot to tell the vampires, that their teeth would get stuck!

Happy Healthy Halloween!


Mary-Kate C:
http://www.3boysandagirl2.blogspot.com/

When it comes to picky eaters, you can’t beat an almost 4 year old!  Our son won’t eat or try anything new… unless you somehow put a “cool” spin on it! So as a mom who wants her kids to eat healthy and be exposed to a variety of foods, you have to get creative! Some of my ideas for healthy, creative Halloween snacks are:

  • Fruit Cup Jack-O-Lanterns:  We took orange fruit cups, drew Jack-O-Lantern faces on them, taped a green spoon to the back (for the stem) and Ta-Da!  A cute & spooky spin on a healthy snack!
  • Ghost Bananas: Cut a banana in half cross-wise and then in half length-wise. Put some peanut butter on it, raisins for the eyes and mouth and boom! – A ghostly banana treat!
  • Spiders: Make deviled eggs. Cut a black olive in half and put half on the yolk part of the egg, slice the other half and use it as legs for the spider!  Scary and yummy!
  • Vampire Teeth:  Put peanut butter between 2 apple slices and use almonds as the teeth.  Yumm!
  • Give me a Hand:  Take a rubber glove and fill it with popcorn!  So easy and yummy too!

These are some easy ways that I have found I can get my almost 4 year old and friends to enjoy some healthy treats but also make them fun for them!  🙂

 

And we’ve been getting into the spirit at Mom Dishes It Out. Check out some of our spooky and scary Halloween ideas below (PS they’re great activities for both you and the kids)!

Soup In a Cauldron

We love making and eating soup in the Fall months. The weather gets chillier, plus soups are a great way to pack in some extra nutrition! You can add a can of beans for extra protein and fiber or throw in a cup or two of kale for a boost of vitamins, the options are endless.
One of our favorite things to do around Halloween is to make a big pot of soup and pretend that we’re making a witches’ brew. For a super fun activity with the kids, dress up as witches and warlocks and get to cooking in your cauldron!

 

Frankenstein

We love avocadoes and guacamole, so what better way to dress up this dish for Halloween than labeling it Franken-Food. If you’re having a party you can have the kids make labels for a fun and creative activity. It’s always fun to make Frankenstein footprints out of paper and make a path on the floor to the food table. A great addition is using carrots or cucumber sticks as “fingers” to dip.

 

Mud Yogurt

We love Greek yogurt and our kids love traditional mud cups. So, we thought of a compromise that added some nutrition, but kept the snack fun and festive. We recommend adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder to Greek yogurt and stirring until it reaches a mud-like color. Feel free to add more until you reach the desired coloring. You can throw in some gummy worms or crumble up a chocolate cookie for dirt.

Or if your children prefer smoothies, you can add cocoa powder to your family’s favorite smoothie recipe. This way your kids can drink the “mud” and enjoy a fun Halloween activity.

 

Do you have any festive activities you do with your family to celebrate Halloween? 

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MDIO’s Healthy Halloween Party

How this mommy RD prevents candy chaos!

What are you dishing out this Halloween? This mom and RD started celebrating early. Last Friday we hosted our first annual “Healthy and Haunted Halloween Party!” I wrote about planning such a party in early October for Modern Mom’s magazine. You can download their app to get detailed instructions for making it a really good time for mummies and their ghouls.

Here’s the scoop on our sweet and spooky celebration. My boys’ treat was to have the party; the trick was that it was healthy…and the kids didn’t even know it!

The Healthy and Haunted Halloween Photo Book:

With the help of my boys’ sitters, we made this party
happen at a local NYC park—with a permit and liability
insurance, of course! First we prepped and cooked the
food at home. Then we loaded our double stroller with
party supplies and pushed our way to the park. We
decorated the picnic tables and started the task of
filling each container with water and two apples for
“personal pail apple bobbing!”

*Please note that I created “personal pail apple bobbing” because the cold season is upon us and there are just
too many runny noses! Individual buckets dispel concerns about spreading bacteria and getting any other ghost’s germs. It’s a good idea to host this event at a location with an easily accessible water supply to fill the pails. We were not so lucky! Thankfully, with the help of the sitters and parents, all 20 buckets were filled in a timely fashion. The children loved bobbing for apples…even the kids missing their front teeth!

 

For snacks, we served pumpkin bread with dark chocolate chips and whipped pumpkin cream cheese for dipping. Tip: In keeping with the autumn theme…carve out a mini pumpkin, remove the interior flesh, and fill with dip.

After letting the kids run freely all around the grassy park, it was time for our “mummy wrap.” All of the boys grabbed partners…and an adult to supervise. We raced to wrap our ninjas and super heroes in toilet paper (consider using environmental friendly green toilet paper). Here we are in action. The best part was that the kids all joined in to clean up the used mummy wrappings.

And then, dinner was served: Meatballs (lean organic turkey) on sticks, vegetarian lasagna, plus fruit and vegetable platters. Everyone ate at his/her own pace. Beverages were kept simple and easy by providing water only.

After the kids spent more time running around and chasing each other in their costumes, it was time to play Pin the Hat on the Witch. Everybody loves this game! Even me…

Have I mentioned candy yet? No! And that’s because there was no candy…and there were no complaints about it either! To teach moderation—that “sometime” foods can be eaten in smaller amounts some of the time—we handed out party bags filled with organic air-popped popcorn mixed with candy corn. The final Halloween touch: festive skeleton ribbon ties…

Special thanks to Laura, Erica and Jenna for making this party such an unforgettable, and haunting, experience!!

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Is Your Child Hiding Food?

You asked Mom Dishes It Out “What can I do if my child is hiding food?” Read on to find out how this mom and RD would handle the situation. Thanks for asking. Keep the questions coming!!

My answer: First of all, don’t assume your child hid the food from you just because it is in the garbage. Food can be considered hidden when you find candy or wrappers under the bed, in the closet, in a shoebox or behind books.

Once you determine whether the food is actually hidden, don’t be reactive. Calmly sit down with your child and ask why they are hiding the candy or whatever wrappers you have found. Try to let your children use their own words to voice their feelings. You may need to help them, but wait until they give you some direction. Otherwise, the child may just say, “yes,” with the hope you will leave them alone.

You may also want to ask yourself a few questions. Does your child think they are not allowed to have it? What has led them to believe this? Do they think they need more food than they are getting? Are you perhaps restricting your child’s intake because you are worried about their weight?

Most importantly, assess your feeding style and whether there is anything that you can do to help your child eliminate this sense of shame around the particular food. Let them know that if they want a certain type of food like candy, it’s okay. However, they should let mommy or daddy know, and the food should be consumed in the kitchen.

Keep in mind which wrappers you have found. To neutralize this food, serve it to your child one day as a side with their lunch or as an afternoon snack. If you incorporate it into your child’s intake, they will no longer feel as though it is forbidden, and therefore the food itself will have less appeal. Remember, when you tell a child they cannot have something, they will want it more. Do the reverse here!

Question 2: What can I do if my child is sneaking food and hiding the wrappers?

My answer:  If your child is sneaking multiple pieces of candy and you “catch them in the act,” stay calm. Quietly assess the entire situation; what else has the child eaten that day? Are they giggling or embarrassed? If the child is giggling, they are most likely just enjoying themselves, meaning this behavior is not typical.

Photo Credit: 藍川芥 aikawake via Compfight cc

Whatever you do, make sure not to shame your child. You can laugh with them. You can ask if they are hungry and would like a snack or their next meal earlier. When given the opportunity without being shamed, a child will most likely share their true feelings. If this is at a random time during the day, assess whether eating these foods will interfere with the child’s meal intake.

Is there a good reason to forbid this food, besides the fact that it may be less nutritious than you’d hoped? If the only reason you can come up with has to do with nutrient density, and your child typically consumes high-quality, wholesome foods anyway, then you may want to let your child simply enjoy it. Allowing them to consume it will help to ensure that this type of food remains neutral, and no morals, labels or values, like “good” or “bad,” become associated with that item.

If you think that allowing your child to eat this specific food at a particular time may affect their snacks or meals, you have two choices. The first option is to let them eat the food, and later, to point out to them why they are not hungry for their next meal (because they ate too closely to dinner, if and when this actually occurs). This is a good way to reinforce internal self-regulation, enabling them to recognize hunger and fullness cues and identify how a food can fill them up.

Choice number two is to tell your child that they need to save the rest of the food until snack time. Explain that a meal or snack is coming up, and you want to be sure they have met their nutrition needs before they consume a “sometimes” food (aka a less nutrient-dense food).

Have any other parents experienced this? How did you resolve the issue? Did you hide food as a child and how would you have like the situation to be addressed? Again, thanks for asking Mom Dishes It Out your feeding and eating questions.

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Potty Training without M&M's

Photo Credit: kingary via Compfight cc

Many of you probably know that food shouldn’t be used as a reward. If you didn’t already know this, then, from the prospective of an RD, I am telling you now.

As a mom, however, I also know that this is easier said than done. Food to a child can, after all, seem somewhat rewarding. Yet through my own experiences, I’ve slowly picked up on a few tricks on how to prevent food from becoming equated with success—and I think I can make it relatively easy for you moms out there too.

It all started with Billy, who will be three in a few weeks and just finished potty training. And guess what. We did not use food as a reward during this process.

Since Billy is my second child, I felt a lot less pressured to potty train him than I did with Bobby. Right before the school year began, Billy asked if he could go potty on the big boy toilet, and so I immediately pulled out the kid potty and we started training.

Billy sat on the potty a few times and then on the toilet. He went potty with the kids at school, but he refused to wear underwear or use the potty any other time. I figured I’d just let him be. As my Australian friend Maureen advised, they’ll learn at some point. (As it turned out, Maureen’s advice from down under was great. I just let Billy do as he pleased, and while he was still wearing diapers, at least he was content. And so I was happy too.)

As the holidays approached, the boys and I decided that sport and ski camps could be a fun way to stay busy during their time off from school. But Billy could only participate under one condition: he would need to be potty trained in order to be eligible for the program. I explained this to my three-year-old and offered him a small token to forgo his diapers and, voila—he was willing to concede.

Everyone tells you to bribe your kids with M&M’s. Instead, I opted to present Billy with handmade wooden animal ornaments for our Christmas tree—presents that actually benefited the entire family, though Billy was all too excited to receive them as gifts.

When I ran out of ornaments, Billy picked out a presidential brigade box of cars, limos, security cars, planes and other trinkets. The box cost about $30, but it was filled with 15 to 20 potential presents inside. Each time Billy used the potty, I allowed him to pick out a new vehicle from the box.

I am very happy to report that this ploy worked like a charm. Now, Billy has been using the potty without gifts for the past week and a half. We still have toys left in the box, too.

So, instead of making food seem special and putting what we nourish ourselves with on a pedestal, opt for non-edible rewards like Matchbox cars, temporary tattoos, stickers, cool underwear, or Polly Pocket pieces. If you use food as a reward, you may end up sending the wrong message: that you have to earn food or that food is a treat for good behavior.

Remember to teach your children that food is food—nothing more, nothing less. As parents, it is our responsibility to make sure our children understand this concept if we want to prevent disordered and/or secretive eating in their future.

Do you offer your children rewards for certain behaviors or accomplishments? If so, what do you typically reward them with that could be useful for other moms out there?