Morning Tea
Recently, I witnessed a morning tea in a daycare with so many elements that are relevant to children’s food education that I had to write about it...
(1)Each toddler was given a bowl with a piece of each of the three vegetables available. Then (2) some children started asking for a "bikkie" (low sugar Digestives) which was denied: "No, eat the veggies first".
(3) Most children didn't eat their veggies and were just looking around, as if waiting for something to happen. (4) The educator, walking around, took a strip of red capsicum and gave it a bite: "Hmmm, so yummy, capsicum is delicious". This was repeated a few times. Some children were already eating the veggies, but the ones who were not, didn't start. They were still looking around, waiting.
Then, (5) the educator came with the Digestives packet and gave one to each child, even to those who didn't "eat the veggies first". The educator (6) remarked to some children that "You didn't eat your veggies", but gave them the biscuit anyway!
After the bikkies, some children started to leave the table, to which were again denied to do so: "Have something to drink first". Some children ignored it and went off to play. Some came back and had the drink of their choice (water or milk). The ones who didn't come back were not told a second time to have a drink (7).
How do you find this meal went, from a food education perspective?
If you are a regular visitor of this blog, you may have spotted some issues with the feeding practice during that morning tea. Well, I gave a pretty good hint with the numbering...
But, before I go on with my observations, I'd like to acknowledge the effort most educators I know make to ensure children in their care have a good meal and learn healthy habits. If some practices aren't adequate, it's mostly a reflection of lack of adequate training.
That's precisely what I'm trying to help with by writing this article...
Educators put in the effort to teach healthy eating habits to young children.
(1) and (2) Children were served only a part of the meal and told to eat that first to be given the more desired part of it, the bikkies. This is a coercive practice, and it teaches children that they have to endure the veggies to "earn" the biscuits.
(3) That tactic didn't convince those children who didn't want to eat the veggies to do so. Neither did the educator's acting of enjoyment eating a strip of capsicum (4) – another coercion. The children just waited because they knew what was coming next...
(5) The educator then gave a Digestive biscuit to each child, including the ones who didn't touch their veggies. It's obviously not the first time morning tea went that way, so, the children knew that the promise wasn’t going to be kept.
(6) and (7) The remarks to the children about them not eating their veggies and still being granted a biscuit after being told otherwise cause confusion and teaches children that people break their promises without a justification and that it’s ok to do so. The same with regards to allowing some children to run off without having a drink when others listened to the prompt to come back to the table and have a drink.
The early childhood education qualification courses usually include one lesson on feeding practices, usually within a food safety unit. The content is very superficial on food refusal and avoidant eating, so educators should not be expected to be on top of best practices when it comes to eating behaviour, especially the challenging ones.
The lack of formal training in how to handle these situations leads educators to rely on their own views and personal habits. They are just doing the best they can with the knowledge they have.
How I think the whole meal should have been conducted:
(1) Give to each child a bowl with all items available at that meal. In this case, one piece of each of the three vegetables and a Digestive biscuit. Better if the setting and timetable allow for giving an empty bowl and asking one-by-one what items they would like to have. (2) Then leave the children free to decide what they want to eat from that lot, without “encouragement” to eat specific foods first. Without control.
(3) and (4) Words of encouragement don’t teach children to like the foods that they may eat when pressured. Plus, in a place where so much is talked about the importance of giving children agency, controlling what and how a child eats isn’t aligned with that, right?
(5), (6) and (7) When we give out rules to children, it’s important that we follow it through or children lose trust in us and may learn that it is fine to not follow them and to not keeping promises.
In summary, we should always return to Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility (sDOR) in feeding: provide appropriate foods at appropriate times and at an appropriate space, and leave the eating part to the children. They should decide if and how much they want to eat from what has been offered.
Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility in feeding: effective way to keep peaceful mealtimes while teaching children healthy eating habits, regardless of the setting (e.g. home, public, daycare etc).
I’m confident to say that that educator’s job would have been a lot easier if the sDOR principals were followed. Even if some children didn’t touch the vegetables and ate just the biscuit. Over time - usually short, if children are left alone - more varied foods become interesting and start making part of children’s regular intake. That’s the best food education practice for mealtimes. 😉
For more insight on sDOR, read How to create (and “fix”) a fussy eater.
