The only person who can decide how much he needs to eat is him. Just tell them, 'This is what I've prepared. The most important thing is to offer the healthy choices without pushing or nagging, Anchondo said. After all, she added, it takes an average of 20 landings on the dinner table of an alien food source before a child will even try a bite. Kathy Curley, a family therapist on the Westside, said children have a tendency to eat in harmony with whatever is going on emotionally in their lives, whether it be problems at school or at home.
Parents can unknowingly foster the behavior.
Moms are famous for saying, 'Oh, don't cry. Here, have a cookie. I've done it myself,' Curley said. But these are patterns that stick with us. Curley said she tries to get children to understand which foods are dangerous and to look closer at what is triggering their cravings.