Dessert With Dinner
Dessert with Dinner
Our relationship with food is ever-changing and the manner in which you offer and present desserts can affect the way you feel about them.
When we were younger, we were often told that to get dessert we had to finish our dinner or eat a certain vegetable. Unconsciously, this was sending the message that some foods are “good” or “bad” or that you must “earn” the dessert as a reward for eating something you didn’t want.
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This can cause kids to formulate rules about food without even knowing it which may dictate how they eat or feel about food for years to come. And like many things, we tend to recycle what we learn growing up with our own kids down the line.
A simple way to prevent this is to be intentional with how you present dessert. Serving dessert alongside dinner (or any meal) is an effective way to show that all foods are equal.
Nutritionally, we can still teach our kids that an apple has different nutrients than a cookie, but it doesn’t need to sit in its own category.
Offering dessert with dinner can also help to introduce mindfulness. If you only get dessert on special occasions or if you “earn” it, then you may rush through a meal only thinking about the treat afterward. But when dessert is a part of the meal, the child can listen to their body and eat what they want and stop when they feel satisfied.
For more information about serving dessert with dinner, check out some of these pages:
https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/why-serving-dessert-with-dinner-works/
https://www.crystalkarges.com/blog/7-practical-reasons-why-to-offer-your-kids-dessert-with-dinner
- DZ
I love the idea of changing the way we think about dessert or how we serve it. I know growing up I actually liked many different foods within each food group. The problem was there were some foods I would not eat and still won't today. It also depended on who made the food. For the holidays we would go to my family on my Mom's side followed by family on my Dad's. My Grandma on my Mom's side always overcooks meat (she does this intentionally). The same foods were always on the table at every holiday, with the addition of Turkey for Thanksgiving. The meat choices were roast beef and Ham. Until later in life, I hated ham because the ham served was always too sweet for my liking. So my only option was the dry, mostly unseasoned beef.
ReplyDeleteMy parents would place two small slices on my plate and wouldn't let us move on to dessert until I finished them. Each holiday I would try so hard to eat it, until the point of tears.
So I like the idea of changing this up. My parents should have realized that I ate meat elsewhere, and for the meal at my Mom's side, I shouldn't have been forced.
Thanks for sharing!
-AF