As childhood and adult obesity continues to increase in South Africa, teaching our children good eating habits and promoting a healthy relationship with food is increasingly important.
Some of our earliest ideas about the world are shaped by our experiences with food. These experiences can play a significant role in personality development, and the way that we respond to stress and adversity and act in relationships.
Children who are denied food can become mistrustful. Children who are overfed can become overly dependent. As children grow older, parents often use food as a way of pacifying children even when they are not hungry.
Similarly, food is often used as a means of promoting certain behaviour. Both situations create an association between food and positive comfort. It is therefore not surprising that as young adults, many young people give themselves food as a way of pacifying themselves or as a self-reward.
This perpetuates a negative relationship with food, and can lead to both physical and psychological difficulties. Stop using food when you are trying to reward, punish or make your children feel better.
