Childhood is a period of rapid development. Nutrition is more important at this age than at any other stage of life. Eating function is closely related to the emotional and social development of the child, as well as the intake of substances necessary for physical growth. Eating and feeding relationships are the first experiences that create opportunities for the child to try new social relationships, to initiate and maintain a mutual relationship with a second person, to achieve satisfaction, enjoyment and contentment. In other words, the nutrition of the child, starting from the age of 2, is a means of communication between the mother and the child. Starting from the first days of life, parents develop the baby's eating behavior by adapting to their baby's eating style and also using their own skills. Both for the initial adaptation process and for a healthy eating-feeding relationship, the mother should be respectful and permissive of the baby's autonomy and abilities, while at the same time being able to choose a food and nutrition style appropriate to the baby's development level.
Eating that we can see in children and adolescents disorders; unwillingness to eat, refusal to eat, loss of appetite, undereating, strange eating behaviors, difficulty in eating, vomiting before or after eating, regurgitation (bringing of digested food to the mouth), rumination (food coming to the mouth and chewing repeatedly), anorexia nervosa in later childhood and It covers problems such as bulimia nervosa.
Eating disorder in infants and children is a disorder characterized by not gaining weight, losing weight for at least a month, and malnutrition. Babies and children are often restless, uninterested, withdrawn and compulsive. Growth retardation may also occur along with weight loss. These problems cause physical and mental developmental delays, and in severe cases, can lead to death.
It is seen that children take their parents as a model when developing eating behavior. Parents contribute positively and negatively to the development of eating behavior not only with the food they put in front of their children, but also with their own eating styles, their behavior during meals, and the attitude and attitude they adopt while feeding the child. For example, having a habit of eating at inappropriate times at home, lack of table order, eating before meals, It should not be forgotten that our characteristics such as snacking will directly affect the child's eating behavior.
These situations of mothers who experience tension, distress and unrest due to emotional problems also cause tension and unrest in their babies. The mother, who becomes more anxious and angry as a result of perceiving the baby's reluctance to feed as a negative, rejecting behavior towards herself, may end the feeding period sooner or later than necessary. This situation may cause the baby to go hungry, become angry, tired, experience distress, and react to make the mother even more nervous.
When families do not know the nutritional requirements of their children appropriate to their age, nutritional problems can become a vicious circle. Therefore, in order to prevent eating problems, families should first be informed about what their children can eat, how long it takes for them to get hungry, how they can understand their children well, and the importance of the eating relationship between them.
In addition, some thoughts of parents may affect their children's nutrition. Children who are overfed with thoughts such as 'A baby will be fat, but when he grows up he will become thin anyway', 'He will never eat unless I remind him', become individuals whose real desires are not met properly and are, unfortunately, candidates for becoming obese in the future.
Unfortunately, some children suffer from malnutrition. Stressful life events such as family problems, problems between parents, school failure, and problems in friendships are also factors that can lead to obesity. In addition, we can say that traditionally in large families, not only the mother, but also grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and aunts are involved in the child's nutrition, which can significantly affect the child's diet. However, a child who develops a good relationship with a single caregiver will not have problems with feeding. It's like having many cooks in a kitchen...
No matter what, we should not involve children in our own emotional problems. Wrong attitudes such as getting angry at someone in the family and making the child eat out of spite, getting the child to eat out of spite, constantly comparing them with others, go beyond the purpose of nutrition and cause the child not only to understand the importance of nutrition, but also cause the child to act with his own emotions and develop negative nutritional behavior.
We should always give the necessary importance to the nutrition of children, who are always unique to us and for whom we try to do everything, in a consistent and uniform manner, and take care to ensure the formation of nutritional behavior. Finally, we should advise our children not to buy chips, chips, colored candies, carbonated drinks or stimulant drinks.
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