By Dinah Torres Castro
How many times have we heard a parent say, “If you eat your broccoli then you can have a cookie”? And for the most part the child will oblige. The problem with using food (the cookie) as a reward for a desired behavior (eating their broccoli) is that it works in the short-run. The reward system becomes expected for the child and ineffective for the parent. We need to look at the long-term message we are sending and decide whether these are the lessons we intend to teach.
If your intended goal is to help your child internalize healthy eating behaviors, do not use food as a reward. When we do this we are placing a higher value on one food over another and children learn to view these foods to be better than other foods. As a result they learn to prefer unhealthy foods that are given to them as rewards (candy, cookies, soft drinks, etc.) over the healthy foods. Research shows that a child’s preference for a given food increases significantly when the food is presented as a reward. Studies also show us that restricting access to particular foods increases preference for that food, rather than decreasing it. It’s a delicate balance–you have to find a way to give your kids limited but reasonable access to sweets and they will learn to make good choices. Remember you want to raise a child who knows how to eat sensibly at the school cafeteria, a slumber party or the local snack stop when they are older.
If you want to promote healthy eating and get your child to try new foods:
- Make mealtimes fun–make healthy eating a fun family affair, don’t use mealtimes as an opportunity to chastise or focus on a child’s failure to eat.
- Be a role model—set a good example for your child by eating a variety of foods.
- Expose your child to a range of foods, tastes and textures early on.
- Keep trying new foods–studies show it takes at least ten times to try a new food before a child learns to eat it.
- Involve your child in mealtime preparations and grocery shopping–use this time to communicate with your child about their food likes and dislikes.
- Give them choices–if vegetables are the source of your troubles find one or two that they are willing to eat and offer them as a choice along with a new vegetable. That way you are assured they will eat a vegetable and we already know young children love to make choices–it empowers them and gives them a sense of autonomy.
- Try serving meals family-style allowing your child to put their own food choices and quantities on their plate.
- Check out Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibilities for the parent/caregiver and the child–a parent is responsible for what food is offered, where it is eaten and when it is to be eaten; a child is responsible for deciding what to eat and how much.
Avoid falling into the treats trap…
- Don’t restrict access to particular foods–this only increases preference for and consumption of that food.
- Don’t force your child to eat a particular food–this will cause them to resist it and dislike that food more.
- Don’t use sweets as a reward for eating their vegetables–it only serves to increase their preference for that reward.
- Don’t use food as a reward–it can establish poor food habits that may last a lifetime and can contribute to obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and other health problems.
Dinah Castro is a Bilingual Family Well-Being Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County’s Family Health and Wellness Program. She can be reached at 631-727-7850 ext. 351 or at dc258@cornell.edu.