Tips for introducing mindful eating into children

The reasons why adults eat are usually reduced to three types of hunger: physical, psychological or emotional, and social. However, this does not happen in babies, and, naturally, neither in children. Children maintain, if they are respected and their decisions are not influenced, a healthy relation

Mindful eating means, in a way, consciously eating what you eat y, and although the concept may sound too deep for a child, the basic concepts are very natural and respectful. Let's see some tips to achieve it.Guidelines for eating consciously in childhood: mindful eating T - T

omar awareness of our responsibility as parents

: offer healthy food, at a certain time, not peck and have access to snacks all day - and in an environment appropriate, sitting at the family table.-Respect that it is the child who takes the rest of the decisions

, if he is going to eat, what, what he is offered to eat, and in what quantity. -Accept that each child is different

, even the brothers themselves, raised in the same way, have different needs and we must respect them. -Make children participants in everything that includes eating:

cooking, shopping, choosing food ... talk about it and why decisions are made. Allow them to participate with jobs appropriate to their age, from washing the vegetables to the table, and even when they are ready, offering them to choose some foods to include in the meals. -Set a time for food that is only for food

. At lunchtime you do not play, you do not watch TV, you do not read. At mealtime, the family sits at the table and has a conversation, about their day to day or about the food, but we all sit down together and share the moment. -Try to try como, as a family, new dishes on a regular basis, and share the sensations.

- Avoid using food as a reward or as a punishment.-

Establish simple rules in regard to meals , for example, try all the foods on the plate giving at least three bites each, be seated at the table until we are all finished ...

- Listen to the opinions of the children about the dishes we offer, they can even offer ideas about possible variations! Do not give up the first, because a child needs several minutes to trust the food on the plate and dare to try it, and several bites to decide whether he likes it or not. Y - And above all,

have patience , continue to offer healthy meals even if they are not to the liking of the children, trying to be well combined dishes or a first and second dish so that if you reject something do not go hungry.