Rewarding with Food?

  Rewarding your children without food
 
By <a href="http://www.free-articles-zone.com/author/8557%22%3Ecameron Scott
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  How often have you heard advice like such as, "If you give her a little candy every time she uses the toilet, she'll be potty trained in no time" or "Just give him a sticker every time he does his chore, and when he gets ten stickers, let him trade it in for a candy bar"?  If you are a parent to a young child, you've probably heard it pretty often.  At times like these it's important to remember that not all advice is good advice.
 This kind of advice makes it seem so easy to motivate children with these simple rewards.  At times, it seems much easier to grab a cookie from the cupboard to entice your child to clean their room.  However, in the long run this kind of reinforcement with food will influence children to develop an inappropriate relationship with food.  The more that we offer the reward of food, the more children will believe that they need to reward themselves with food. 
 When children who receive rewards of food grow up, they become teenagers, young adults, and adults who feel the need to reward themselves with food.  Aced a test?  I deserve a candy bar.  Had a bad day?  Make it better with ice cream.  This kind of thinking is an unhealthy relationship with food.  As parents, your goal is to facilitate your child developing a normal, healthy relationship with food.
 What is a normal relationship with food?  A normal relationship with food is one where an individual feels their hunger and fullness cues.  They allow themselves to eat when they are hungry without guilt and stop eating when they are full just because they feel like they have had enough.  They eat for enjoyment, but not to celebrate or reward every small task or success in their lives.  This is the goal.  Children deserve to start out life with the best relationship with food possible.  It will help them to avoid unnecessary guilt and weight gain later in life.
 So, how do you motivate children without food rewards?  It will take some change and thought on your part, but the long-term results will be well worth it.  You may want to sit down and write a list of ideas of small, positive rewards to offer your children.  Some ideas could be as simple as praise, a very enthusiastic thank you, a hug, or a high five.  You could reward them with an activity, such as having a friend over, special one-on-one time with a parent, or time spent playing a game they can only have after a certain task is accomplished.  You can also do something more elaborate, such as a sticker on a chart for each time they accomplish a task, with a large prize such as a toy or day at the amusement park as the end goal.
 Making a change from rewarding with food will help your child maintain the natural relationship with food that they were born with.  It may be a hard transition to begin with, but will pay off in years to come.

  Cameron Scott
Invent A Tent: children's play tent and kid play tent
 
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