Introduction
Educators can support children to become competent eaters by practicing responsive feeding.
Responsive feeding: when an educator responds in a supportive and appropriate way to children’s hunger and fullness cues1, which:
- supports the child’s self-regulation and a growing sense of self,
- helps children develop eating competence by:
- enjoying a variety of foods,
- exploring new foods, and
- respecting their hunger and fullness cues2.
Responsive feeding is a mutual relationship between a child and educator based on trust3: children trust that educators will provide them with food during the day; educators trust that children will eat.
Educator decides
What foods are offered and when and where children will eat.
Child decides
What foods to eat, whether and how much to eat.
Helping children feel safe and confident to eat according to their hunger and fullness cues is more important than focusing on how much they eat.
Provide meals and snacks at regular times, and with enough time to eat.
This allows children to anticipate what, when and where they will eat. 20-30 minutes for eating is usually enough.
Trust that children know how much to eat.
This helps them recognize and respond to their own hunger and fullness cues.
Pressure to eat more or less may do the opposite.
Give children time to explore, touch, and taste their food.
Offer new foods with familiar foods. Be patient; it may take 10–15 exposures to a certain food before a child will accept it. Seeing peers and adults enjoy new foods is a great way for children to be exposed to new foods in a positive way.
Allow children to serve themselves from the foods available.
This gives them control over which foods to eat and how much to put on their plate. It builds their confidence and teaches them to trust their appetite. Serving meals family-style allows children to practice their fine-motor skills, social skills and hand and eye coordination.
It is important to provide opportunities for children to participate in mealtimes that reflect their cultural practices and traditions.
Eat together.
This strengthens connections, nurtures a positive relationship with food, and contributes to the child’s social and emotional development. Remove distractions like screens, toys, and books.
Be a positive role model.
Leading by example is an impactful way to teach skills that promote eating competence. How educators talk about food matters and can impact a child’s relationship with food.
Put it into practice
Explore how families gather at the table.
What utensils do they use?
What do they eat to celebrate special days?
How do they eat together?
Consult our Strategies for Mealtime Success resource for tips to respond to different mealtime situations.
For more information on child nutrition, visit unlockfood.ca or Canada’s Food Guide. Call Health811 to speak to a Registered Dietitian at no cost. Your local public health unit may also be able to offer support.
Positive Role Model in Action
Inspire Curiosity
Invite children to see, touch, smell, and taste new foods.
Use Descriptive Words
Focus on taste, texture, smell, and colour.
Try not to label foods as “good”/”bad” or “healthy”/”unhealthy”.
Call Foods By Their Names
A cookie is a cookie (not a “treat”).
An apple is an apple (not “a healthy snack”).
Show a Positive Attitude Towards All Bodies
Show we can be happy, healthy, and active at any body size.
Eat With Children
Choose from the same food and beverages offered to children.
Show children you are open to and excited to try new foods, and enjoy eating them in different ways.
Respect Hunger and Fullness Cues
If you’re still hungry you can have more, but if you’re full you don’t have to eat anything else.
Focus on the Meal
Putting away electronic devices when eating at the table with children.
Check Your Bias and Language
Refrain from conversations about body size, food eaten, dieting and weight loss.
Stand up for children when other adults or peers mention their weight or physical appearance.
1 Health Canada. Nutrition for Healthy Term Infants, 6-24 Months. (2014). Cited January 15, 2024 from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-food-guide/resources/nutrition-healthy-term-infants/nutrition-healthy-term-infants-recommendations-birth-six-months/6-24-months.html#a6
2 Satter, E. Eating Competence Nutrition Education with the Satter Eating Competence Model. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour. 2007 Sep-Oct; 39(5 Suppl): S189-S194. Cited January 15, 2024 from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17826701/
3 Ellyn’s Satter’s Institute. Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility in Feeding. (2015). Cited January 31, 2024 from: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ELLYN-SATTER%E2%80%99S-DIVISION-OF-RESPONSIBILITY-IN-FEEDING.pdf
