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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME
MAY 12, 2022
Health & F tness
Are You Raising an Emotional Eater? by cindy Weinberger MS, rD, cDN
t
his Sunday, families across the nation celebrate Mother’s Day. The typical response when many are wished a “Happy Mother’s Day” is “Mother’s Day is every day.” Although this
line may be cheesy, it is indeed very true. A mother has daily duties that if she even stops being a mom for one moment, the household will crumble! As mothers, it is our responsibility to
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not only take care of household chores like dishes and laundry, and believe it or not, we do more than find your shoes, too. A mother’s job does not end at bedtime. A mother is constantly thinking and worrying about her children. Like the popular saying goes, “Mothers don’t sleep. They worry with their eyes closed.” What more can a mother worry about than her child’s health? A child’s diet plays a key role in his or her health. Not only does which food a child eats affect his or her health, the setting and atmosphere affects him or her as well. Eating for emotional reasons, other than being physically hungry, can be characterized as emotional eating. Emotional eating is when people use food as a way to deal with feelings instead of to satisfy hunger. We’ve all been there; we’re all guilty of emotional eating – finishing a whole bag of chips out of boredom or downing cookie after cookie while reading a book. But when done a lot – especially without realizing it – emotional eating can affect weight, health, and overall well-being. Children (as well as adults) use food for reasons other than to satisfy their hunger and nutritional needs. In fact, obese children often eat in response to their emotions and feelings. How can we prevent our children from becoming emotional eaters? Emotional eating is a phenomenon that starts at birth. A baby’s crying is pacified by being fed. As the child grows, we give them snacks in public places to keep them busy and quiet. Or we may stuff our children
with candy when they’re in shul to keep their mouths otherwise occupied. Some common emotions associated with emotional eating are the following: • Anger • Boredom • Change • Confusion • Depression • Frustration • Loneliness • Loss • Resentment • Stress A big parenting challenge is to determine whether your child is eating for the right reasons. To help you be aware of whether or not you are raising an emotional eater, take this quiz found in Parents Magazine: 1. When your child asks for snack, what’s your typical first response? a) Do you feel hungry? b) How could you be hungry already? We just ate. c) Sure. I can give you… 2. The last time your child got antsy or bored in public and you couldn’t take him somewhere to let off steam, how did you react? a) I let him use my phone to play a game or watch a video. b) I got a snack and/or drink out of my bag and gave it to him. c) I read to him or played with him. 3. How many times in the last week has your child seen you eat snacks or dessert directly from the package? a) None
