DON'T Join The Clean Your Plate Club!

The other day I was out and about washing the clothes at the dreaded laundromat. There was a small family there. Eating a fast-food breakfast. I understand the need to get chores done that you might have to swing by somewhere and grab a quick bite to eat. What I did not understand and about broke my heart was the child was forced to eat all of her food, even when she complained numerous times that she was full. This child was already had a larger body mass. “Without interventions, obese/overweight children will likely become obese adults” (Faguy, 2016). It creates an unhealthy habit for her later in life. Maybe it is not the parents fault. Maybe that is what they learned, and they are passing down the habits. She will learn to gorge herself on food because it is on her plate or in her kitchen when/if she lives on her own. “Children with one obese parent has a 50% chance of being obese, with both parents 80%” (Ucsf, 2018). Both of this child’s parents were obese. This child already had strikes against her health and increasing the risk of breathing problems, hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases.

There really is or was a Clean your Plate club. USA created it in 1917. It was a government Lever Act for the President to regulate the activities that surrounds storage of food. It was meant to save food resources and sent them to the soldiers who were at war. We no longer have to do this. Although keeping your food limited to prevent wasting is ideal, if you can not finish your plate, save it for later. Or go ahead and trash it but remember the next time not to fill your plate so full. Also, when making plates for children, small portions. An adult stomach stretched to the max will hold 3.7 litres. That is almost a gallon or 15 cups. The stomach takes longer to digest when it is full like that. It has folds and ridges that help swirl and mush the food in order to digest. When it is stretched, there are less ,if any, folds and ridges to help move food around. A child’s stomach is smaller.

We as parents need to stop forcing our kids to eat. And, we need to break our own habits of eating until we are stuff just because the food is there or because it is so tasty. Eat when you are hungry. Eat till you are about 50-80% full. Then stop. It takes the stomach to signal the brain that it is full in 20 minutes. Most people have had a second plate and on desert in 20 minutes. Slow down. Teach the next generation to enjoy what they are eating. Lead by example. Break those negative habits that surround food and maybe we can start seeing diseases drop. Start seeing the rates of obesity drop.

Habit-Healthy Living- Crystal Gotte Holistic Health Coach