I’m a paediatric doctor – why you should NEVER force your children to finish all the food on their plate

DO you struggle to get your child to finish a meal, and tell them to stay at the table until their plate is clear?

If you do, then you aren’t alone.

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A paediatric doctor has explained why you should never force your children to finish all the food on their plate[/caption]

But paediatric doctor Gurjinder Dahel advises parents not to expect their children to finish everything on their plates – and that forcing them to do so encourages “negative food associations”.

“As a Paediatric doctor, I recommend that parents don’t expect their kids to finish everything on their plate,” Dr Dahel wrote on the Parenting Group on Facebook, in response to a mum asking how she could encourage healthy eating habits in her three children.

“I understand many parents were brought up being told the same thing, but kids should be able to regulate how much they eat.

“Forcing this mindset on kids that their plate should be empty actually contributes to so many kids being overweight and obese.

“Forcing them or bribing them only enforces negative food associations.”

Instead, Dr Dahel advises teaching children to “listen to their body” so that they can “recognise when they are full”.

The mother who took to Facebook to ask for advice had explained in her post that her three children “ALL have very different eating habits”.

She added: “One of them is rather picky, one eats everything, there other changes their eating habits every other day.”

“Healthy eating habits are important and I want them full and not over eating – where is the give and take line with all of this?” she asked.

“Both myself and my partner grew up in families where it was, that’s your dinner, eat what’s on your plate and then you can be done or that’s your dinner and you’re not getting anything else.

” For the most part that’s been our approach but it all seems confusing and unfair and with three different needs it’s just a mess.”

Someone else added in a comment on the post: “Forcing kids to eat just teaches them not to trust themselves.

“Just don’t put on the table empty calories like danishes and try more healthy choices. You are a great mummy and we are just learning here.”