Nolan Alexander (Host): This is Children's Health Checkup where we answer parents' most common questions about raising healthy and happy kids. The holidays will be here soon and we can be so caught up with making plans, traveling, gifts, and so much more, that we overlook how we eat. We turn to our expert, Mikie Rangel, who is a clinical dietician at the Children's Health Nutrition Clinic, talking to her about overeating during the holidays. From children's cues to examples and strategies as parents, she provides expertise so we can be better equipped this holiday season. Mikie, we're excited to have you on today. How are you?

Mikie Rangel, RD: I'm great. Thank you so much for having me.

Host: Wonderful. I want to know why is overeating a concern during the holidays, especially for kids?

Mikie Rangel, RD: Well, certainly overeating is a concern really anytime, but the holidays just seem to present more opportunities for it to happen. I'm always talking to families about how our bodies need food for energy. Same way we need to put gas in the car, batteries in the flashlight. Our bodies need fuel and food as our fuel source.

And when we overeat and take in more energy than our bodies need, we can have short-term consequences like tummy aches and indigestion, but then if it becomes a habit, overeating can lead to unhealthy weight gain and related health problems. So there's a lot of things that can lead to overeating in general, and the holidays tend to present all of those challenges at once. There's that abundance of delicious food that tends to be high in calories and low in nutrition. Things like candy and other sweets and the rich meals and the drinks and all those things kids are naturally attracted to. And then there's the emotional eating around the holidays.

Maybe there's the excitement of Halloween candy and the adrenaline of that night, or those traditional family foods that only get made once a year. Or that polite, gracious eating that we do when someone brings us a gift. And maybe we didn't even really want it, but we're trying to be nice. And then of course, with the holidays comes a lack of structure.

Kids might be out of school, they're staying up late, they're missing their usual meal times and just, just off, they get off their typical routines. So all that can lead to kids losing those hopefully well-established hunger and fullness cues, which can then lead them to overeat.

Host: Well, I want to talk about that a little bit more. What role do those hunger and fullness cues you were just mentioning play in helping kids regulate how much they eat?

Mikie Rangel, RD: Yeah, it's important to know that we're all born with a very natural regulation system that's powered by hormones and brain signals in our body. So, you we think about a hungry baby that gets kind of fussy and chews on his hand when he wants to eat, and then very naturally stops eating and turns away when he is had enough, even if there's still something left in the bottle.

Or we might see a cranky toddler when she needs a snack and then maybe she's eating a cookie and puts it down halfway through and says, I'm full. So when those hunger and fullness cues are working, kids can be trusted to eat as much as they need to be satisfied, which really might be more or less on any given day, depending on their activity level or their growth patterns.

 I always remember this comedian, I saw one time that she's telling a story and she says to her young daughter, I'm going to go get some donuts. Do you want one? And the daughter says, no, thanks. I'm not hungry. And the mom replies, well, honey, that's not how donuts work. So unfortunately, I love it. Unfortunately, over time, our natural regulation cues can start getting silenced by things like skipping meals and getting overly hungry and then frantically and eating too much and overdoing it, or that distracted eating that happens with the TV or the phone. So we're missing that little voice that says we've had enough or emotional eating when we're trying to distract ourselves from stress or other emotions.

And certainly that kind of eating has nothing to do with hunger at all. So those signals will never be effective in those situations.

Host: Mikie, I feel like you've been in my house before with everything you just described with an infant and a toddler. That's to a T. But as a parent, sometimes we look forward to those holidays and the treats. And you mentioned some of the traditions. How can parents encourage kids to enjoy the holiday treats without making food feel off limits or creating a sense of guilt?

Mikie Rangel, RD: That is such a good question because we do live in this world that glorifies treats and makes them so accessible and attractive and then simultaneously discourages kids from eating them like we take them out trick or treating, and then tell them not to eat candy. So it's important that we, first of all, separate morality from food choices.

We need to make sure that we don't reward healthy eating or good behavior with a treat, nor do we want to use the loss of that same treat as a threat. So the treats are just part of the celebration. They're not something that is earned or used as punishment. They're just a neutral part of our intake. So we want to be very careful that we're not using food in that way, but we also have to be very mindful of the way we label foods and the way we talk about them.

In some conversations we might say that, oh, donut, that's so bad. But in other conversations we're describing that same donut is so good. So we gotta get away from that good and bad when it comes to food and be more focused on descriptive words like we might say, a food is healthy or satisfying, maybe, refreshing, delicious or sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy, whatever it is. Really hone in on talking about those descriptive characteristics as our food as opposed to those moral, good and bad type of words.

Host: So words matter as parents, is what you're saying?

Mikie Rangel, RD: Words matter. They sure do.

Host: How can parents model balanced eating habits during the holidays?

Mikie Rangel, RD: Mindful eating, such a buzz word if, you're looking at stuff like this. And this really is the key to enjoying holiday meals and treats without guilt. And without overeating. When we eat mindfully, we are fully present. We are noticing smells and tastes and textures. And parents can model these behaviors by demonstrating mindful eating while they're with their kids.

So think of enjoying a slice of pie together and talking about that warm, inviting smell that we notice even before we take a bite. Maybe we recognize how the soft filling is contrasted with a flaky crust. Maybe the filling is sweet or it's kind of like pumpkin or tart or like a rich chocolate.

 When we're eating mindfully, we're noticing all those things and that increases our satisfaction so we can be content with one serving of, especially of these very indulgent foods, instead of wanting more, and those same habits should be applied to any intake we're having, whether it's a big meal or even just a little piece of candy, parents should very intentionally model these behaviors, verbalizing all these comments about the food. Because it's so important to fully enjoy the experience and honor what our food is giving us. Regardless of whether it's a whole bunch of nutrition that is serving our bodies or just pure enjoyment because both are valid.

Host: Yeah. And that makes so much sense, right? Because we know as parents that we need to be present along with our children. We don't need to be buried into our phones. Distracted, like, and especially around the holidays, a very special time. We really want to be present and it only makes so much sense when it comes to mealtime, something that we really look forward to, to be even more present then.

Mikie Rangel, RD: Yes. I love it. I love the way you verbalized that.

Host: Help us out here. What are some practical strategies families can use during big meals or parties to avoid the overeating?

Mikie Rangel, RD: Yes. So coming from a little bit less emotional and existential standpoint, there are definitely some practical things that we want to have in place. Families should try to maintain that regular pattern of meals and snacks. Getting overly hungry will almost always lead to overeating, so trying to have meals say every four to five hours, along with small, healthy snacks in between as needed, will decrease the likelihood of that frantic eating that can happen when we get that hangry feeling. Make sure that we're setting expectations ahead of the event. It's important that kids aren't faced with trying to make a healthy decision in the moment.

 Because let's face it, whether it's at home or at a party, no one wants to be the food police. So instead of restricting what foods are eaten or telling them how much they can eat, work on the behaviors around eating. So these things should be in place at home all the time, and then they can carry over those same expectations that we have at parties or special events.

An important thing is that every time we eat, we should be at a table with no screen, no phone, no tablet, no game. We should be using a plate to serve our food, or a little portion of a snack. And then of course, those slow, mindful eating practices. If that's in place all the time at home, that means at parties, we should be doing the same thing. We should put our food or our treats on a plate. We should be sitting at a table. We should be eating them mindfully. Not, standing around the buffet just mindlessly munching or having some bag of chips or cookies while we're playing with our cousins. If the expectation is to sit with food on a plate, kids will usually eat enough to honor their hunger and enjoy the food, and then they're just going to want to be off doing other things.

Host: That's definitely true. Maybe there's a bit of a hack around this, of building a new tradition. Are there ways that we could build healthy traditions around food that focus on what you've talked about, the connection and the celebration during the holidays?

Mikie Rangel, RD: Definitely. I think something that, we're getting so much more aware of and mindful of, like you mentioned, being present with our kids, present with our families, so sharing stories of those favorite recipes, teaching kids how to make those dishes that we look forward to all year long.

Maybe kids can start doing their own research and look at new traditions they want to start, or new recipes they want to bring in so that there's more feeling behind them. Keeping the focus on family and traditions that inform our holiday meals and treats can remind us why they're so special. And that's not always just because they taste so good.

But another practical strategy is to repurpose some of those less meaningful foods. I think about all that candy that kids get when they're out trick or treating. And generally speaking, none of it is very special. It's just exciting because it's candy. So if we start to give it more of a purpose, it can decrease the actual intake of those things that really, frankly, aren't all that great.

So I know my kids have made it a tradition to sort through their candy on Halloween night. They will sit there on the floor and they group it by type. They rank it in order of favorites, they trade it out like currency. I mean, they can spend an hour just engaging with it without eating any of it. And then over the next few days, we end up using that candy for different things. We might build with it or experiment melting it or using it in craft projects.

And these are all things that we've just looked up online before it's even come into the house. So they're already excited about using it, and then what's left goes in a bucket. Sits on top of the pantry and I haven't put any restrictions in place and they typically have forgotten about it within about a week, which I guess is kind of a blessing of having a busy fall outta sight outta mind.

Host: So for some parents that are listening to this and they're excited about it, but maybe they're a little intimidated because they feel that their child may be developing some unhealthy eating patterns already. What's your advice for them?

Mikie Rangel, RD: It's so important that parents are setting up their home for success. Inside the home is the place where we have the most control. So all that unhealthy food, kids want it because it tastes good. It's sugar and salt, and very tempting. People, kids and adults are drawn to it. So instead of stocking the house with all those treats and then telling kids not to eat them, we want to make sure the temptations aren't constantly available and just include it in moderation.

So we want to have those healthy foods on hand, boring list of things like whole grain cereal and yogurts and fruits and string cheese and eggs and lean meats so that when your kids are reaching for something to eat, they're easily able to make a healthy choice. But outside of that, we want to include treats as a family.

So like maybe Friday night we go out and get an ice cream cone and we eat it and enjoy every little bite of it mindfully, but there's not two tubs of ice cream in the freezer. Or we have chips with a sandwich, we buy enough to have that planned meal, but there's not, a bargain club 32 pack in the pantry that they want. When they're eating healthy all the time, Those little holiday treats and rich meals that pop up at this time of year are such a smaller proportion of their overall intake, so we don't have to stress about what's happening because the body will even out after. We want to make sure that the house rules are very firm on eating meals and snacks at the table with no screen.

That is how those hunger and fullness cues remain intact, and that can guide their eating away from home too. We just want to make sure though, that if kids are not following those rules, you know, maybe you're finding wrappers in their room or you're aware that they're eating in their rooms or on the couch, things like that.

 There should be some kind of consequence. Maybe they lose some screen time or they have to help with extra chores. But parents need to be very careful that the message is about, Hey, you know, the rule at home is we eat at the table with no screen. We don't eat in our rooms. We never want to punish kids for eating where we don't want to restrict them from food.

We just want to focus on that behavior. Hey, you're supposed to be eating at the table with no screen. Let's make sure we get back to that. If you're hungry, you'll be willing to sit here at this table and eat without your phone. If you really just want to be on your game then, then be done eating and go get on your game.

Host: Mikie, this was so helpful. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Mikie Rangel, RD: You're so welcome and thank you so much for having me.

Host: Thank you for listening to Children's Health Checkup. For more information on how to build healthy eating habits, visit children's.com/nutrition. If you found this podcast helpful, please rate and review or share the episode and please follow Children's Health on your social channels.