Rewarding good behaviour with food

However, foods used as rewards tend to be high in fat, salt or sugar, such as chocolate, biscuits, crisps, sweets and puddings. Using these kind of foods as rewards has its drawbacks:

• It encourages unhealthy eating
• It teaches children to eat when they are not hungry
• It teaches children to reward themselves with food i.e. 'comfort eating'
• It makes some foods appear to be better or more desirable than others and can further discourage children from eating the healthy foods you want them to eat

It's important to first think about why you are rewarding your child. If it is for doing something you would expect them to do normally like eating their dinner, do you really need to reward them? This could build problems in the longer term if you have to offer a reward every time you give them a meal. If your little one won't eat their dinner, it may just be that they are not hungry. Check they are not filling up on snacks and high calorie drinks shortly before meal times.

If you think you need to reward your little one, here are some ideas for non-food rewards that may help break the association between good behaviour and treat foods:

• Stickers on a reward chart
• Colouring book
• Coloured pencils
• Watching a favourite dvd
• Extra story at bedtime
• Bubble blowing
• Lots of praise and enthusiasm

Non-food rewards can help to encourage good eating behaviour but some research has shown that the best way to do this is to set a good example yourselves. If your little one sees their parents, siblings and other family members eating healthily, they will be more likely to do so themselves.

Another factor to bear in mind is that if your child is refusing food, offering the disliked food on many separate occasions (at least eight) may help your little one overcome their dislike.

To summarise:

• Avoid using food as a reward for good behaviour
• Non-food rewards can help your child learn good behaviour
• Eat healthily in front of your little one and encourage relatives and friends to do so too
• If your child refuses food, don't get stressed, just calmly take it away and offer it again on a later occasion.