One Dietitian’s Recommendations For Parents Navigating Holiday Sweets

With the holidays soaring during the end of the year, candy and dessert sales climbing, and children partaking in holiday activities with their families, ‘tis the season for more access to sweets. And while many parents look forward to this season of wearing holiday-inspired attire to partake in fun activities, some pause when thinking about the endless bounds of sweets all around. For many parents, one fear is ‘perhaps my child won’t stop eating sugar unless it’s limited?’ This message has held greater weight given sugar’s portrayal at large as an addictive substance, but one registered dietitian is flipping this idea on its head.

Registered Dietitian Nicole Cruz has studied that deprivation can potentially drive the desire to eat more and more sweets. “Imagine telling your children they can’t play with one toy, but then telling them, you can play with one that looks relatively the same. This can actually play the reverse effect causing a child to crave greater permission,” says Cruz. Through tested time working with her clients, she has found that allowing occasional access to sweets and relaxing prohibiting restrictions were the keys to helping children better manage their sweet tooth and stop eating even when they had more access.

Belief Systems: Retuning The Sweets Talk Track

Cruz has found that as much as some parents may want to get rid of candy, it isn’t going anywhere. This has created a great opportunity to figure out how to navigate the fact that sugar and sweets will continue to be around. “What if a child just hasn’t been given enough opportunities to be around candy in a non-judgmental, low-key, permission-filled environment? Or it’s talked about negatively like ‘Not too much, you’re going to get cavities or have a stomach ache’?⁠ When a dynamic is created around candy and sweets that suggests they shouldn’t have too much, kids will likely seek out more and even act addicted to it,” Cruz describes.⁠

To support parents that want to work through those feelings, Cruz recommends rewriting the talk track to the following:

1. “Sugar is a molecule in lots of foods.” Rather than expressing that “sugar is addicting,” changing the talk track to sugar is a molecule in lots of foods can kickstart the transformation of a person’s broader perceptions about sugar and how to manage its consumption.
2. “My child enjoys candy and sweets.” Having confidence in the idea that a child may enjoy exploration and find food an avenue to engage the depth of their five senses, can support rewriting the talk track that “my child will never stop eating it.”
3. “My child needs opportunities to self-regulate.” The same principles that are applied to supporting children with everyday eating can be applied to sweets consumption. When operating from the guise of fear, “I need to control their candy consumption,” it can actually breed more fear or illuminate the temptation of ‘what if.’ A large part of a child’s healthy development is learning how to self-regulate not only with food but in other areas of life. Food can be a healthy teaching opportunity that presents itself daily.

How to Self-Regulate Rather Than Getting Rid of Acquired Sweets

During a child’s journey navigating their relationship with sweets and learning to self-regulate, Cruz has found some tried and true measures work well for the parents supporting them. By putting the joy back into eating she’s found that the process is all about creating balance. When children are exposed to opportunities to balance they will take up the task and perform with flying colors.

“For example, when a child is offered a solid meal before leaving the house for a holiday event their food tank is full of the nutrients needed to support a balanced day,” says Cruz. Avoiding inspecting a child’s food tank during a quick dash out of the house only triggers an imbalance in their response to opportunities that may present themselves after if not assessed early on.

In addition, “offering snacks ideally alongside protein or complex carb-rich foods when sweets are introduced can support lessening the amount of sugar that is consumed,” the registered dietician shares. Complex carbs offered with simple carbs help to slow the digestion of foods that are consumed. This eases the tax played on the body to absorb sugar and reduces the chances that it may spike digestive or mood-based behavioral changes following consumption. And while offering sweets along with other foods, storing them in places with traditional foods help reduce the distinction that they are ‘separate from’ or considered differently than other items.

Lastly, Cruz has found letting child practice sharing can have a positive effect on their consumption levels. When a child shares their food, they not only learn healthy habits that build social confidence but this too by happenstance reduces their consumption levels. Secondarily, when balancing opportunities to share with family and friends, long-term seeds are sown for the healthy habit of sharing that can apply to other avenues of a child’s life.

The Result: Long-term Trust Building

If anything, building trust is the key to a healthy relationship a parent has with their child. And as a child partakes in this relationship with their parent, guidance that is couched in love and trust promotes greater opportunities for the child to learn and grow. “The feeding relationship a child develops in their early years can set the stage for future eating habits,” Cruz believes.

Learning to be around sweets on an ongoing basis can ease the tensions that may arise during any holiday season.