Developing Healthy Eating Habits: Parents Are Key

Eating disorders affect up to 5% of the population, and most often develop in adolescence and young adults. From binge eating disorder to emotional eating, millions of people are battling with some form of eating disorder today. But aside from treating it, is there some way to prevent it from developing in the first place?

According to a new study, parents' eating behaviors are highly influential in whether their child develops an eating disorder or not. That's because the healthy eating habits of the parent can transfer to their child. And as we know, these issues usually develop when the kid is still under their parent's wings.

In the study, the researchers grouped parents into:

• Avid eaters (enjoy eating a lot due to their environmental and emotional triggers rather than hunger pangs)
• Emotional eaters (eat due to emotional triggers but not particularly for enjoyment)
• Avoidant eaters (low enjoyment of food)
• Control group (healthy eaters)

The link between a parent's eating behaviors and their child's is more evident among avid and emotional eaters.

Avid and emotional eaters are more likely to comfort their children using food. The child picks up on these cues and starts displaying them as they grow.

Since parents are a key influence in children's eating behaviors, they're in the perfect position to encourage healthy eating habits in their kids from a young age.

As a parent or prospective one, if you do have an unhealthy relationship with food, you'll want to be careful how you expose your kids to these unhealthy behaviors. You want to protect your child and help them develop healthy eating habits, which in turn promotes a healthier lifestyle.

But you can't pour from an empty cup.

So, if you have severe eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, binge eating, avoidant food intake, or emotional eating disorder that you just can't control no matter how hard you try, we can help.

Get the help you need so you can better care for your child.

Contact us at Hope Mental Health today.

Author

Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.  Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.