One big concern I hear from parents this time of year is that it feels like all their child wants to do is eat sweets. Whether it is a party at school, a family member bringing cookies over, a gift box of candy, sweets are everywhere. If you feel like your child’s sweet intake is out of control this holiday season, here are four tips to help you navigate the holidays without feeling like you are the sweet police.
1) Continue to be in charge of the what and when your child eats – even if there are holiday parties planned, still give them regular meals and snacks with a good balance of protein, carbs, and fats. Protein is often the missing ingredient in children’s snacks, so make sure they have the option to eat protein at snacks.
2) Do not limit their sweet intake at parties. Even though it is so tempting to dictate your child’s food choices, try going to the party and not saying anything to them about their food intake. Let them make the choices of what they are going to eat and when. This helps build autonomy with food and one of the things they need to learn is how to self-regulate at a party.
3) Offer your children sweets when they don’t expect it. This tip may seem counterintuitive, but it is the best yet! This significantly helps them decrease their focus on sweets and even helps decrease their overall intake. So for example, if your child is having yogurt and fruit for a snack, you can also offer holiday cookies.
4) Try to avoid comments like, “Enjoy it now, because in January we’re back to health food!” This can create a scarcity mindset and they will not do a very good job at self regulating and eating sweets in a way that feels comfortable to them.
There is so much you can do to help kids realize that sweets are just one part of holiday celebrations! The key point to remember is that putting limits on the sweet intake will actually make them hyper focus on them. There are so many caveats to this approach and more than an article can cover, so if you have any specific questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me and I am happy to try to help give you some additional guidance. You can find me at www.annapolisnutrition.com or on my social media @annapolisnutrition for Instagram and Facebook.
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