Pregnancy
Television and Eating Habits
by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., author of Feeding: The Brazelton WayKeeping Television and Meals Separate
- Making television (or junk foods) entirely off limits may only work temporarily.
- Longer-range solutions, such as sports, games, and other more appealing alternatives to TV, should be encouraged.
- Children who have not been raised on television are bound to find most of the shows and commercials far less interesting than the other activities they've grown accustomed to.
- Seek the child's help in the kitchen or setting the table instead of having the TV do the baby-sitting while you prepare supper.
- If you must have a TV, have only one in the house. Maybe a poor quality one, with lousy reception, that isn't too much fun to watch! Put it in a room where the family doesn't spend much time—never in the kitchen or the child's bedroom.
- Never eat and watch TV at the same time. Eating should be limited to mealtimes and scheduled snacks, and should be allowed only while sitting down at the kitchen or dining room table. You'll be thrilled at how much easier it is to keep your house clean—though your dog may not be!
- Don't be rigid about television. Instead of forbidding it altogether (which may work for some families, but may backfire for others), pick out a special show or video to watch together.
Any parent who feeds a child in front of the television is setting up problems for the future. "But it distracts her, and she eats better," a parent may protest. Maybe so, but food and TV are best kept separate.
Television is too overstimulating. A child who needs some distraction while she is eating will do far better to be distracted by conversation with you. A child needs to eat in a quiet and relaxed atmosphere so that she can learn to pay attention to her body when it tells her she is hungry or she is full. A child who does not know when she is full, and just keeps on eating as long as her favorite show is on, is at risk of becoming overweight.
Television, even without food added to it, is our biggest competitor for our children's hearts and minds. Add food to TV time, and you'll make it even harder to pry your child away. If children get used to meals with television, they're bound to start snacking while they watch too. Grazing, outside of regular snack times, can interfere with eating at meals, and also contribute to obesity.
Time spent in front of the TV takes away from time for physical activity, another risk factor for obesity. Television ads pressure children to pop in junk food while they watch. TV is one contributor to a problem of epidemic proportions in the United States—childhood obesity and later related medical problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Passive TV watching, coupled with high-calorie, low-nutrition junk food and disrupted mealtimes, is setting up a serious health threat to our children. Don't let them eat and watch TV at the same time!
Mealtimes in front of the TV take away from time for your family to be together. Lose these opportunities for communication now, and your children may be more likely to shut you out when they are adolescents. Make mealtimes as pleasant and enjoyable as you can. Less emphasis on the amount eaten and more on being together will help in the long run.
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Excerpted from Feeding: The Brazelton Way © 2004 by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Perseus.
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