Tips to Control Emotional Eating in Children

Does your child use food to deal with emotions? If you notice emotional eating in children, you can really feel worried of overeating tendency in your kid. Loss of control over food is more prevalent among obese kids and emotional eating tendency is one of the primary causes for overweight in children.

It becomes very hard for you to identify emotional eating tendency in children. But it is very important for you to differentiate between hunger and emotional eating tendency in children to provide necessary supplement for healthy growth of kids.

Once if you are successful in identifying triggers for emotional eating in children, you can easily control this particular unhealthy eating habit.

Emotional hunger and physical hunger

When your child is eating to satisfy his hunger, he would certainly stop eating when he feels full. But, if he is eating because he is happy, excited or sad, he would certainly indulge on unhealthy snacks.

Physical hunger comes gradually, whereas emotional hunger takes place suddenly. When your kid is eating to fill his emotions that are not related to empty stomach, it can be emotional hunger.

Controlling emotional eating in children

It is very important to control emotional eating in children to avoid obesity and related health problems. If you don’t have exact idea about how to achieve it, here are few control measures you’ll find handy:

  • Be sure that your kid takes enough breakfast, so that he will not be hungry later. Don’t allow your child to skip breakfast which is the major reason for emotional eating.
  • Provide all essential vitamins and nutrients in your child’s diet, which will certainly reduce the chances of eating disorders in children. Ensure that you give balanced diet to your child everyday.
  • Check whether your child is getting enough physical activity and exercise every day. If not, incorporate an effective exercise routine in his routine schedule. Keep your child always active; that will in turn divert your child’s temptation to binge.
  • Enough sleep also plays a vital role in controlling emotional eating and relieving stress in your children. Studies show that lack of enough sleep increases hunger levels not only in adults but also in children. So, ensure that your child gets sound sleep at night.
  • Throw away all unhealthy foods like chocolates, ice creams, etc. from refrigerator and kitchen. Use healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables as comfort foods for your child’s emotions.

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