BeeKay Nutrition

Raising kids & teens with a good relationship with food often requires eating when not physically hungry. Read when and why this is okay! Plus tips for making an often challenging experience easier.

Is it Okay for Teens to Eat When Not Hungry? - BeeKay Nutrition Raising kids & teens with a good relationship with food often requires eating when not physically hungry. Read when and why this is okay!

The way we talk about food informs adolescents' relationship with food. Putting foods into categories can negatively affect this relationship, while making some changes to the way we talk about food can significantly improve how kids & teens feel about food and themselves.
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Labeling Foods - BeeKay Nutrition How we talk about food informs adolescents' relationship with food. Labeling foods into categories can negatively affect this relationship.

Staying hydrated can be difficult for adolescents and teens who don't enjoy drinking plain water. And if your adolescent isn't drinking, that may be a problem.

But water isn't the only drink available.

You can experiment with adding flavour to water with fruit, store-bought enhancers, carbonation, or tea, or look to other drinks, like juice, kombucha, or sports drinks (especially necessary if your adolescent is active in the heat).

We don't have to fear drinking sugar or calories! The body recognizes them and uses them the same as food calories, and compensates for that.

** drinks are generally not a replacement for food and even if having drinks with sugar or calories, adolescents need to eat food too.

I was working with a teen client on adding more food to her breakfast to increase the nutrient and satiety factor of her meal.
Mom commented that having a more filling breakfast will help prevent her from eating snacks before lunch.
I pointed out that the goal isn't NOT EATING, but rather making sure each meal or snack has more variety to ensure adolescents meet their nutritional needs over the day.

But they still need to eat every 2-4 hours to do so.

Snacking isn't meant to be avoided! We want to help adolescents make choices that will be satisfying and nourishing.

That means parents' role is to encourage regular eating and help adolescents increase their variety of foods eaten at a given time.

You can do this by creating a neutral food environment where all food is morally equal and available to chose from.
Help your adolescent add more variety without judging their current choices
Encourage regular eating with modelling it yourself and not commenting when they do eat.

If you're struggling to raise adolescents with a good relationship with food and their body, schedule a Discovery Call today