Independent medical expert answers
on psychiatry and psychology

To Teach Children to Eat is a Communication Process

Written by: Gunborg Palme, certified psychologist and certified psychotherapist, teacher and tutor in psychotherapy.
First version: 22 Jul 2008. Latest version: 05 Aug 2008.

Abstract:

Feeding is communicating, and you must help your child feel hunger and satisfaction and avoid confusing this with other feelings of wellness or unwellness.

Question:

How do children develop eating disorders?

Answer:

Feeding a child is a form of communication between the child and its parents which is important for its development. If this is interfered with and if that which is said, or communicated in other ways, is faulty, e.g., that the child is hungry, cold or tired, when this not the case, the child is prevented from learning how to manage its eating. Even using the wrong word for a child's role in the family and its frame of mind can cause confusion. For example, the child is often not allowed to feel sad as that is taken by the parents as an insult to their own excellence. In this way the child loses confidence in its own feelings and experiences.

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