Binge Eaters & How to Handle Them

*Paused in growing up but still “growing out”?* Are you buying clothes that are way above the age level of your child? Does your child want to finish everything on his plate as well as table? Does he breathe heavily after finishing a meal? Then you are surely around a compulsive /over eater also known as binge eaters. Alert your mind right now while I tell you how to monitor your child’s eating habits. 

I recently wrote about fussy eating habits in children, which is basically a phase in kids that dies down in time. But this is completely the opposite of picky eating. The over eaters generally love everything they eat. They devour their food and you won’t have trouble feeding them.

But you wouldn’t want unhappy and unhealthy kids who will turn in to miserable adults trying on different weight loss programs. Trust me dealing with a binge eater is way more difficult than handling a fussy eater.

Over eaters generally stuff food with 2-3 servings of foods or even more for every meal they have. So start by serving small portions of servings. My son is used to having 2 portions of rice (that being his favorite, he can have tinda with rice), and psychologically it satisfies him that he is well fed with his TWO large servings. So later on, I insisted on two small helpings of rice reinstating that he has had his usual two.

Another trait of an over eater is not realizing when they are full. Most of the kids relate to satisfying their hunger till the time they can’t stuff their tummy anymore. Therefore, they need to know that their hunger pangs will not be immediately satisfied after eating their meal. They need to wait a bit longer to feel the content.

Over eating in children is also a get away from the emotional stress and issues that they face almost every day. A bad day at school or a fight with a friend can disturb them and hence they eat to their heart’s content to stress it out. So look out for symptoms like when they are hogging on their not so favorite dish when they are sad, angry or depressed. I have also noticed my son fishing out a snack when he is bored and has nothing to do, especially after meals. So the best thing is to involve him in a puzzle and get his mind off food.

Like I wrote in my articles earlier, do not mix television and food. There is a scientific study that states eating while watching television makes kids obese. So have a healthy meal time away from the tube.

It’s always better to teach your kids to wait and stop while eating. Do not force on eating a standardized portion in terms of quantity every day like “2 rotis” or “2 bowls of rice” which becomes mandatory or else their meal is considered incomplete.

Finally ensure on deworming your child after talking to your pediatrician to ward off unnecessary hunger cravings that occur due to worms in the tummy.