eating

Following my last blog on the importance of mealtimes I thought it might be useful to say a few words about some of the problems connected with eating. As foster carers many of the children we look after often have a poor relationship with food, binging or starving, hoarding food, or refusing the meal we have prepared and then taking food from the cupboard when no one is looking. We nurture our children and take pride in seeing them grow and thrive. Food is essential to sustain life and therefore an intrinsic part of that nurturing and love, so that if a child or young person has a poor relationship with food it is very worrying.

No summer is complete without at least a couple of picnics outside but sometimes it’s difficult to think what to include. I had to give the matter a lot of thought last year for the book I was asked to write - Happy Mealtimes For Kids. Here are a few suggestions, some old favourites and some new. I hope you find them useful.

Food is essential for life and therefore part of our nurturing and love. If a child rejects the food we have lovingly prepared then it is easy to feel they are rejecting us. Many of the children I’ve fostered have come to me with some form of ‘eating disorder’: refusing to eat, eating the smallest of amounts, eating only sweet foods, or gorging or binging until they are physically sick. Based on training, research for my book Happy Mealtimes For Kids, and over 25 years of fostering experience, I’ve put together some guidelines that can help achieve healthy eating.