From: merle@jane.unx.sas.com (Merle Finch)
Subject: Re: Halloween Stories
Originator: merle@jane.unx.sas.com
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 14:09:38 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


In article <1992Nov05.012123.2220075@locus.com>, judy@locus.com (Judy Leedom Tyrer) writes:
:Well I don't know about cute, but will you accept proud?  Ron and I read
:a study on eating disorders that advised the best way to raise children
:was to let food be food and not label some things like vegetables "good
:food" and other things like candy "bad food".  Just let kids eat what they
:want when they want.  We were both raised in more traditional households
:where you had to finish dinner to get dessert and candy was rationed and
:we both had weight problems as children (Ron hasn't gained a pound since
:7th grade, but he's added 2 feet and he's not skinny).
:
:Well, everyone we know says "Oh, that only works if the only food in the
:house is healthy food."  They won't believe me when I explain that Mitchell
:will often choose an apple or a banana over a candy bar or that he will
:take an entire week to eat a bag of M&Ms.  But he does, and so does Erin
:who has yet to eat any of her Halloween candy save 3 Hershey's kisses.
:(I, on the other hand, have eaten almost half her candy, much of it fed
:to me by her).
:
: <text deleted here>
:AND, Mitchell still has 2/3 of his candy bag left.  He eats a piece or
:two a day and saves the rest.  His friends who trick or treated two
:more blocks have already eaten all their candy.
:
:We do so many things wrong as parents I just thought I'd take some proud
:credit for something that we have really done right.  Candy has no forbidden
:aura in our house.  So it's nice if we have it, but no big deal.  The same
:goes for soda vs. juice, and all those other forbidden foods so many of my
:friends fret over.
:

I apologize for reposting so much of Judy's article, but it is worth reading
and I believe it's the way to go with food.  We handled food in our home the
same way and have had the same experience.  My daughter is now 10yo and has
a very good attitude toward food.   She eats just enough to satisfy her true 
hunger and usually selects a healthy assortment of foods.  

Around February 1993, I will trash her bag of candy from this Halloween as
I've done inall the years that she's been trick-or-treating. 

When she was 4-5yo, she and I had lunch with a group of my friends and after
she finished a salad (her own choice, not mine) she asked for dessert.  I
told her that she could either have a cup of strawberry yogurt or a piece
of chocolate cake.  My friends all laughed at me and razzed me saying "You
know she's going to choose that cake, Merle."  Without paying any attention
to their remarks, Emma walked over to the display case and brought back the
carton of strawberry yogurt.  They were flabbergasted and I was vindicated!

I have been anorexic and bulimic and am currently in a fitness program that
stresses education and is teaching me to fight my cravings and is helping me
to get my weight under control.  My own experience and pain concerning this
love-affair with junk food and food as reward/punishment has been enough to
convince me to learn a better method of introducing my child to food.

After a child gives into his/her sugar tooth, biology will take over and they
will choose nutritious foods and will not overeat.  They eat enough to get
by and to grow.  We don't need to force anything on them.
-- 
Merle Finch  merle@sas.com  SAS Institute Inc, SAS Campus Dr, Cary NC 27513-2414.