by Kimberly Chitwood

Created on: March 02, 2009

How would you avoid overfeeding your children during the holidays? In today's society, it's so easy to overlook how much our children eat on a regular basis, much less on the holidays. At Thanksgiving, there is usually a huge family dinner. Because of the number of people in attendance, there will be an equal or exceeding amount of food. We cook, bake, and otherwise prepare all of these dishes because we want to make sure that no one goes hungry. The same thing happens during the Christmas holidays. Not only do most of us attend a family dinner on Christmas Day, there are also smaller parties/get-togethers that we attend. You know about the office parties, church dinners, immediate family dinner, and school parties. That's at least 5 different dinners that most of us will attend over the days leading up to and on Christmas Day. So, at Thanksgiving and in all the hustle and bustle of decorating and buying gifts for everyone on our lists at Christmas time, we also have the hustle and bustle of trying to make it to all of these parties, so that we don't offend anyone.

Are you trying to lose weight, or do you have diabetes or some other medical condition that prevents you from overindulging in mealtimes during the holidays? Then, you know how hard it is to resist all of the delicious dishes and desserts offered at these gatherings. How much harder, then, is it for children, who already have a hard time controlling their behaviors and emotions, to control how much they eat also? The answer is that it's just as hard or harder for them to do this as it is for adults.

The solution: parents and caregivers have to limit what children are eating by controlling what does onto their plates.

So, how would you do this? At any given party/dinner/holiday meal, only allow three or four items on your child's plate at a time. Either you can fix his plate for him, or if he's old enough to do it on his own, monitor the portion size or whatever he is putting on his plate.

At a lot of these mini-parties, there are a lot of appetizers served. This is done to give more choices and to try to accomodate everyone's tastes. So, it's hard to put only three or four foods on your child's plate. Start out with this many and then allow him to refill his plate once he's eaten all of it. Monitor what he puts on his plate the second time.

It's important not to allow your child to just eat and eat. Limit the number of times he goes back to get food or asks for food. If he gets a lot on the first time around, then don't let him go for a second helping. If he only get a little food the first time around, then it's okay to allow him to have seconds.

Pay attention to types of food he puts on his place. Don't let him have just junk food, unless that's all that's offered. If you know ahead of time that junk food's all that will be available, then take him a snack to keep him from getting hungry. Remember you don't have to stay for the duration of the whole party. If you need to leave early to feed your child something more appropriate, then don't hesitate to do so. If there are healthier choices at the party/dinner (i.e., fruits and vegetables), make sure that he at least tries some of these foods, too. It's okay to eat junk food every once and a while. It's not okay to allow the child to only eat junk food.

Just remember one simple rule: if you wouldn't put it on your plate, don't put it on his. Generally, your child will get smaller portions on his plate if he sees that you're getting smaller portions, too. Don't expect him to only a little if you're not doing the same. Enjoy yourselves, but don't get carried away with the food.

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