We learn how to eat as children and carry those habits into adulthood. Very young children are good at regulating their food intake and stop eating when they are full. Some argue that it is during the pre-school period that children begin to adapt their food intake by responding to social cues rather than their own body cues.
SOCIAL CUES THAT INFLUENCE EATING BEHAVIOR CAN INCLUDE:
Behavior modeled for a child. Seeing a parent turn to food when they’re sad.
Feeding children in emotion-regulated ways. Giving a cookie to an upset child to cheer them up.
Celebrating with food. Children go to birthday parties where everyone has fun and gets candy or cake. Holidays are all about the food and children begin to associate food with positive feelings.
Restricting certain foods. Telling children they can’t have something makes it a preferred food.
These eating habits learned early on can be modified later. We can use this knowledge as adults to shift our mind-set towards food. Recognizing that our eating patterns have developed from family and environmental influences can be key to changing our food choices. A few strategies to overcome stress eating and better manage our food cravings include:
- Mindful eating. Pay attention to what you are eating. Don’t eat on auto-pilot but be aware of what you are eating, how much you are eating and if what you are eating is what your body actually needs.
- Find alternative outlets to soothe emotions. Recognize when you are triggered and substitute a different action to take your mind off food.
- Remove judgement. Take away any feelings of guilt that arise from labelling foods as good or bad. Choosing to eat chocolate when you are allowing yourself to indulge, lets you enjoy a treat and move on.
Managing emotional eating is a process to approach with kindness and acceptance towards ourselves.