Health visitor Ruth Watts has explained why parents shouldn’t force their children to finish everything on their plate. She shared the parental advice online.
Managing the family diet isn’t easy
Getting your little kids to have a healthy and balanced diet isn’t an easy task, but when it comes to managing their habits around food, a health visitor has explained why you shouldn’t pressure them into finishing what’s on their plate.
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She asked people to stop forcing their kids to finish food
Ruth Watts, whose username on TikTok is aheatlhvisitor, shares a lot of handy tips for parents on her platform.
In one video, she began, “Stop forcing your toddler or your child to finish their plates. Let’s get into why it’s so important not to force our children to finish their plates.”
Forcing them won’t build a good relationship with food
Watts explained, “It’s not going to create a good relationship for a child with food as they get older, and this is the end goal. We’re not just now eating the food, their relationship with food is going to be a marathon.”
They should be able to tell when they’re hungry or full
“We want to be encouraging a really healthy relationship with food and, not only that, we want them to know when they are full. By forcing your child to finishing their plate, we are not listening to that hunger hormone telling us that we are full,” Watts added.
A lot of adults have lost this ability
The health advisor admitted that a lot of adults have “lost” this ability to tell when they’re full and ends up being something they need to reconnect with.
Even if the kids still want dessert after not finishing a meal, she said this is “normal” since adults do this too.
She gave advice on how to get them to eat healthy
When it comes to making sure your kids are eating healthy foods that they don’t seem to want to try, Watts said the key to this is exposure.
Even if it takes them a while to try something, continuing to put it on their plates will expose them to it, which in turn will make it more normal and less intimidating to eat.
She also advised adding a ‘safe’ food to the plate
Ruth added that a wise thing to do would be to always have a “safe” food on their plate, which is a food item you know they’ll want to eat, alongside an item you’d like them to try.
This will make them more comfortable with seeing the new food and eventually reaching for it.
Many under the video agreed with her
Many people under Watts’ videos, especially the one where she talks about this topic, agreed with her on it.
One person wrote, “Completely agree. My dad used to make us finish it all, or we couldn’t leave the table all night until we did. Now, as a 34-year-old, I am only just learning to listen to my body when I’m full and not over eat.”
Another also said, “The saying is in my house is, as long as you attempt it, that’s good enough. It’s helped loads with my fussy toddler. She still eats the bare minimum, but it isn’t a battle anymore.”
