Raising a Healthy Eater

"The secret to feeding a healthy family is to love good food, trust yourself, and share that love and trust with your child. When the joy goes out of eating, nutrition suffers."

- Ellyn Satter

Ellyn Satter is a well known advocate for children's nutrition. She has outlined some very simple rules which help parents raise healthy children. One major concept she is known for is what she calls "Divisions of Responsibility" as they relate to feeding children.

The Division of Responsibility for Infants:

-The parent is responsible for what

-The child is responsible for how much

The Division of Responsibility For Toddlers to Adolescents:
-The parent is responsible for what, when, where

-The child is responsible for how much and whether

Parents' Feeding Jobs:

-Choose and prepare the food

-Provide regular meals and snacks

-Make eating times pleasant

-Show children what they have to learn about food and mealtime behavior

-Not let children graze for food or beverages between meal and snack times

-Let children grow up to get bodies that are right for them

-Trust your child to decide HOW MUCH and WHETHER to eat.

If parents follow these simple guidelines, children:

-Eat the amount they need

-Learn to eat the food their parents eat

-Will grow predictably

-Learn to behave well at the table

"If parents do their jobs with feeding, children will do their jobs with eating."

For More Information on Raising a Healthy Eater, Visit: http://www.ellynsatter.com/

Taken in part from;
http://www.ellynsatter.com/ellyn-satters-division-of-responsibility-in-feeding-i-80.html. 8/25/2010