Graze anatomy Teaching kids to eat slower, smaller and more often
By Dr. Bill Sears CHILDREN ARE BORN grazers. If left o their own resources, children would nibble, dip and sip—or graze—their way throughout the day. One of the eating tips I give my patients of all ages, especially if they are suffering from mood isorders, overeating or intestinal ailments, is what I call Dr. Bill’s Rule of Two’s: ■ Eat twice as often. ■ Eat half as much. ■ Chew twice as long. A child’s tummy is about he size of his or her fist. Next ime you put a heaping bowl of pasta in front of your child, compare it to your child’s fist and notice the mismatch. Now you’ll understand why our picky eater doesn’t clean his or her plate. would often play a game, having our chil- dren count how many times they chew. Eventually, children get used to chewing lon- ger because they enjoy the mouth-feel and tummy-feel that chewing and grazing give them. Grazing is good for staying lean When you graze on fre- quent mini meals through- out the day, your body enjoys stable insulin levels. Insulin is a fat-storage hor- mone. When it spikes high throughout the day, such as when you gorge, you store that extra food as extra fat. When you graze, insulin is not so high, which elps keep you lean. Remember, lean does not mean being skinny, but rather having the right body weight for your body type. Dr. Bill Sears
Grazing benefits
the brain
The buzzwords for
feeding the brain are
slow and steady. Grazers
have steadier blood
sugar and therefore a
steadier supply of brain
fuel. Parents often tell me
that once they start encouraging their children
to graze throughout the day, their children have
fewer behavior and learning problems at school.
My observations as a pediatrician reveal
that grazers tend to:
■ be better able to focus and learn at school
and work
■ have steadier moods and behavior
■ be more likely to enjoy weight control
that’s right for their body type
■ have more energy.
Creating a grazing environment Have nutritious nacks readily available. The ideal snack should: ■ have at least 5 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. Protein and fiber are fill-up foods, helping your child be satisfied longer and with less. ■ contain 100 to 200 calories ■ be crunchy, requiring a lot of chewing Here’s a trick from the Sears family kitchen for the preschool child: Prepare a nibble tray. Use a muffin tin or a compartmentalized plastic dish and fill each section with bite-size portions of colorful and nutritious foods. Give the foods fun names, such as avocado boats (a quarter of an avocado sectioned lengthwise), banana or cooked carrot wheels, broccoli trees, cheese blocks, little O’s (O-shaped oat cereal), canoe ggs (hard-boiled eggs cut lengthwise in wedges), moons (peeled apple slices, thinly spread with peanut butter), or shells and worms (different shapes of pasta). C
The Costco Connection
Costco members will find healthy foods
for snacking and meals at all Costco locations. Popumz, a snack chip developed by
Dr. Sears, is available on Costco.com.
Grazing is great for the gut
When a gorger wolfs down a huge meal, a
big amount of undigested food stays in the
intestinal tract, leading to two common “shuns”:
indigestion and constipation. If your “gut brain”
could talk it would say, “Don’t feed me so much
so fast, so that I don’t have to work so hard!”
To encourage your child to chew longer,
serve crunchy foods. Kids like the sound and
mouth-feel of crunchy cereals and celery stalks.
Give your child chew messages, such as “Chew,
chew times two” or “Chew 20 times.” My family
Dr. Bill Sears (
www.askdrsears.com) is an
associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the
University of California, Irvine, School of
Medicine and co-author of The Baby Book
(Little, Brown 2003).
Grow foods
Make every calorie count. Give
your child nutrient-dense foods that
offer more bang for your nutritional
buck. Instead of “healthy foods”
(some children perceive “healthy”
as “icky”), call them “grow foods.”
Vegetables, steamed or raw
Legumes (beans, peas, lentils)
Fruits
Whole grains
Nuts and nut butters
Seafood, especially Alaskan
salmon
Lean meats and poultry
Greek-style yogurt
Eggs
Hummus
