New approach to healthy eating habits discussed

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People are tired of being hounded about eating well, according to Ellyn Satter, a Wisconsin dietition. In a recent address to First Nations health professionals, the respected authority on healthy eating outlined a more relaxed and common-sense approach to nutrition.

Satter, author of Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family, led a workshop at M'Chigeeng on Manitoulin Island Oct. 25, which was sponsored by Noojmowin Teg Health Centre.

Noojmowin Teg director Mariette McGregor Sutherland welcomed 66 Elders, mental health workers, educators and health care providers to Abby's Conference Centre. Since many Aboriginal communities are concerned about weight, diabetes and heart disease, Sutherland said workers are focusing on getting children off to a good nutritional start.

In Satter's view, almost everyone feels anxious and ambivalent about their eating patterns. She considers standard nutrition rules and policies too rigid and restrictive.

She stressed the importance of parents developing healthy eating patterns in children. "Take a leadership role with the menu but don't be coercive," she advised. "Pressure does not work. If the joy goes out of eating, then nutrition suffers."

In Western culture, Satter said, "People eat less and less appealing food, trying to fill up on low-calorie food and trying to get by on low-fat food. But control models don't work; they only cause resistance."

Many people in our world are "wounded by the dieting process," Satter added. Studies have shown extreme diets lead to food preoccupation, increased appetite, fatigue, emotional instability and depression. In her perspective, "forcing weight down below what is natural for a person causes misery and disruption of the natural balance."

It is a parent's responsibility to choose and prepare food and to make eating times pleasant, Satter believes. She suggested providing a variety of food and allowing children to pick and choose. Eventually they will sample an increased variety of food and will eat the amount needed.

Don't express dissatisfaction with the size and shape of your child, Satter said. Parents must remember that weight is only one quality in a person.

Instead of running around to doctors and asking them to "make my child thin," parents need to concentrate on doing an excellent job of feeding.

"Kids know how to eat and grow; they eat according to their own needs but they depend on adults to support them," Satter said. "Kids have their own internal cues. They have a very delicate homeostatic balance; therefore, trying to restrict food can have tragic consequences."

In her experience, food is often used improperly. For instance, some parents use food as a pacifier to keep children quiet. Other parents overfeed children in order to keep peace in the household.

Satter's philosophy places the emphasis on nurturing within a family context. She called upon parents to "feed the kids and let them grow up to have the bodies they want."

Parents must be attentive and tuned in to their children's individual needs, she said. Deprived children become preoccupied with food and beg for food constantly.

Satter's approach appeals to Tammy Albers, the child nutrition program co-ordinator with Noojmowin Teg Health Centre. She likes the idea of creating "a nurturing table" for meals, where the family sits down together with a variety of food.

"It's important to establish a pleasant, safe eating environment," she said.

The concepts advocated by Satter contradict many of the predominant theories of nutrition, Albers noted. Some parents insist on a "clean your plate" approach, with stipulations such as "you can't have dessert if you don't eat your vegetables."

Marlene Fox, a prenatal nutrition worker in Wikwemikong agreed. She found Satter's tips helpful for her own growing family as well as for her clients' families. "My youngest one has some challenging eating behaviors," Fox said. "I may try this new approach with my five-year-old. The theory s that they will gain more independence and eventually have a balanced menu."

Wikwemikong wellness worker Gail Shawande said the workshop was an eye-opener for her as well.

"The tips are helpful for people on fixed incomes," she said. "Choice is the key here. It is important not to be so structured in meal content. I think we'll all be a little more relaxed now about meal planning."

More information is available at www.ellynsatter.com