Eating is a vital aspect of every kid’s life. A good appetite not only supports physical growth and health but also promotes psychosocial and emotional development.
The relationship between eating and choosing food is affected by culture, health, and temperament.
What is emotional eating?
Emotional eating is the act of consuming food out of boredom or when one is craving comfort. It could also be in response to mood swings rather than the need for actual nutrition.
Children, teenagers and even adults are victims of emotional eating at one time or another.
How is emotional eating different from eating due to physical hunger?
When children are affected by a certain event, or experience mood swings, they usually feel a strong desire to eat.
On the other hand, children with a physical hunger only feel the need to eat when their stomachs are empty. Physical hunger can be satisfied by different kinds of food while those experiencing cravings only demand for a certain kind of food.
For instance, some kids find themselves consuming large amounts of ice-cream after fighting with their friends, or other misfortunes that happened to them.
Why is emotional eating unhealthy?
Emotional eating can result in obesity (caused by overeating), the inability to gain sufficient weight (due to a poor diet) or feeding behaviour problems.
The two most common are obesity and malnutrition, which leave dire consequences if misdiagnosed or left untreated.
Possible causes of emotional eating in children and teens
- Anger
- Boredom
- Change
- Confusion
- Depression
- Frustration
- Loneliness
- Loss
- Resentment
- Stress
Even positive emotions, such as happiness, sometimes can result in emotional eating.
How to help your child
If you spot signs of emotional eating in your child, have a chat with them. Express your concerns kindly. Helping your child requires not only affection but also a gentle and open attitude.
Help your child develop a healthy response to their emotional eating problems by finding alternative solutions.
- Have a talk about what triggers them to eat.
- Show them how to deal with the triggers other than by consuming food.
- Call their friends over or engage them in an outdoor activity.
Rather than expecting your child to deal with the issue of emotional eating alone, suggest a few solutions to their problems, and praise them when they overcome the situation.
Parents and caregivers should be involved in helping the child overcome the issue that could leave dire consequences if left unchecked.
This article first appeared in hellodoktor.com. It was reviewed by Dr Duyen Le. The Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.