Woman food baby

After This Woman Shared A Picture Of Her 'Food Baby', People Joined To Support Her

Have you ever had a big meal and then your bloated belly got so big that you looked pregnant? If so, this thread that one woman started on Twitter, is for you. Fatimah, a young Londoner, posted a photo of her with a big food baby belly captioned: “I can’t be the only one that gets extremely bloated and starts imagining myself being pregnant?” As it turns out – no, Fatimah, you’re definitely not alone with bloated stomach, as hundreds of Twitter users have responded with their photos of ‘food babies’ and the thread gained a status of a legitimate support group.

This weekend, London-based influencer Fatimah, shared a photo of her with a “food baby”

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She probably did not expect that the thread would go viral so quickly – hundreds of women (and not only them), responded with their ‘food pregnancy’ pictures

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People were glad to know that they’re not the only ones doing this and that bloated belly is nothing to be ashamed of

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Fatimah later shared a photo of her post-food baby body

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By sharing so many playful photos of their food baby bellies, women (and men) on Twitter remind us that bloating is not something to be ashamed of because it is all too common. “I’m so glad bloating is being normalized,” Fatimah tweeted on her viral thread. We’re definitely glad too!

And said that she loves the replies from people on the thread

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People were joyful to see such a fun thread and for some, it even helped them feel more confident

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Later, Fatimah told the media: “I had just finished eating a bunch of wasabi while watching anime and I realised how bloated I was and I thought it would be funny to share how bloated women can get. ” She also added: “It’s 2019 and I feel like more women are becoming more accepting about the ‘flaws’ in our bodies and we’re embracing while also making light of it as well and I love it.”

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Autumn Cake by Ashley Baxter

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Fat, Beer belly Bob by Belly Bob

Yep, fat is still being stored. This is what beer and chips will do to a person.

I like a particular brand of hard lemonade. And as I read up on it, it has twice as much carbohydrates as beer does.

THAI TUESDAY - lot of healthy menu today. Enjoy!! #eat #fresh #foodies #healthy #vegan #vegetarian #salad #noodles #curries #foodie #foodporn #foodgasm #nom #nomnom #food #foodbaby #yummy #hungry #cleaneating #authentic #thai #thaifood #glutenfree #south by Emporium Thai

Beer Belly Girl by Katee ^_^

This is what smoking and drinking does to you.

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I consider myself to be a passionate photographer & videographer.

My enthusiasm for photography started off as a natural flair of capturing my everyday surroundings in my own unique perspective. Over time as I started to travel more frequently to countries like Singapore, Dubai, Switzerland, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Spain, and many more, my artistic style developed organically as my mind expanded to diverse cultures and landscapes.

For more than five years, I have been capturing memories, portraits, nature, cultures, and urbanscapes, in different parts of the world.

I wish to share my lens with others so that they may see beauty and peace in the world from my perspective.

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Pot belly girl by Katee ^_^

Looks like shes getting a bit pudgy around the waist

Really Bloated Belly by Katee ^_^

This is my biggest yet! I felt hungry this morning so for breakfast I had: 2 bowls of cereal, 3 chocolate-filled pancakes, some bacon, some eggs, and a litre of milk.

Nice and tight

what is possible with breastfeeding

After giving birth, a woman continues to influence the internal processes in the child's body through the milk she feeds him. Nutrition affects the quality of milk, because with it the baby receives vitamins and nutrients. They ensure its proper development and strengthen the immune system. Therefore, the menu of a nursing mother in the first days and months should be as nutritious, balanced and varied as possible.

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Lactation

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diet

In the menu of a nursing mother, it is important to take into account the balance of calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, the benefits for the woman herself and the growing body of the child. We will tell you how her diet changes after childbirth.

Contents of the article

Do not self-medicate! In our articles, we collect the latest scientific data and the opinions of authoritative health experts. But remember: only a doctor can diagnose and prescribe treatment.

Starting from the maternity hospital, a woman has to think about what to eat and what not, because some foods can cause colic or allergies in the baby. Out of fear of harming the child, some women begin to eat only buckwheat and deny themselves everything. Others are sure that the child needs to be accustomed to different foods from the cradle, and they do not make any restrictions.

Already on the first day, the menu of a nursing mother should be carefully thought out. It is desirable that it be correct and safe, because the child is just adapting to an independent life outside the mother's womb. We talked about what should be the diet in these important first weeks with a certified dietitian Alexandra Paetou, mother of two children.

Breastfeeding mother's menu: main misconceptions

As a rule, new mothers are intimidated even in the maternity hospital, handing them a standard memo. Looking at the list of foods that are allowed on the menu of a nursing mother, it is easier to say what is allowed than to list prohibitions. From this moment, the eternal fear begins to eat "something is not right" and thereby bring all possible troubles to your baby. Here lies the first misconception: if you do not want your child to grow up with an allergy, you need to eat varied.

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Another common misconception: a diet for a nursing mother, the menu of which will include a minimum of calories, will help you quickly return to your previous weight. The only thing it will help is to lose breast milk and "put" the baby on artificial mixtures.

It should be remembered that the daily caloric intake of a woman's diet during lactation should not be lower than 2000 kcal. Otherwise, at first you will lose most of your hair and the normal condition of your teeth and nails. And then such food with a meager menu will deprive you of the status of a nursing mother.

General dietary guidelines for breastfeeding mothers

Almost everything a woman eats passes into her breast milk in one form or another. Of great importance is the preparation of a menu for a nursing mother immediately after childbirth. Just think: in the womb, a baby swallowed sterile amniotic fluid, and then an incredible amount of intestinal bacteria and nutrients fell on him, which his enzymatic system does not yet know. To facilitate this acquaintance with the world of other food, you need to choose products wisely.

Eating lettuce, fresh vegetables and multivitamins, a woman still does not supply her body with everything it needs. This chain lacks an important link - the balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, which come only with food. For a nursing mother of a newborn, the menu should be designed in such a way that this ratio is taken into account. Protein sources are meat, fish, eggs, chicken, turkey, cottage cheese, dairy products. They also contain fats. Complex carbohydrates - pasta, cereals, bread, green and leafy vegetables, legumes, and it is better to refuse simple ones, with the exception of some fruits. We are talking about sweets and pastries.

Calculate the ratio of calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates (CBFA) that enter the body with food. About 30 kcal is needed per kilogram of weight. With a weight of 60 kg, the need is 1800 kcal per day. But so much is needed in the normal state. Breastfeeding puts extra calories on the menu of a nursing mother. To this figure, you need to add about 500 more kcal if the baby was just born. As for BJU, per kilogram of weight you need 1.5 - 2 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat and 4-5 grams of carbohydrates.

Thus, with a weight of 60 kg, you should consume daily from 90 to 120 g of protein, no more than 60 g of fat and 240-300 g of carbohydrates, preferably complex. The nutrition of a nursing woman should take into account these parameters, then the body's resources will be enough for two. In order not to make mistakes in the calculations, you need to use a kitchen scale and free services on the Web.

Let's list the basic rules that the breastfeeding diet implies:

The entire diet for the day should be divided into 5-6 meals.
Small portions should be consumed before feeding the baby.
Avoid citrus fruits, strawberries, raspberries, red caviar, fish, seafood, and smoked meats for rashes in babies. And it is better to refrain from exotic fruits for up to 6 months.
It is better to cook dishes by steaming, stewing, boiling, baking without a fried crust.
In case of colic, the menu of a nursing mother needs to be adjusted, excluding sour cream, mayonnaise, pickled and fatty foods, grapes, sweet soda.
It is better not to try a new product or a dish from it, or introduce them with caution, observing the reaction and well-being of the baby.
Increase fluid intake, because milk is 90% water. Enough 10 glasses of clean water of 250 ml every day.
To enhance lactation, it is good to drink warm, freshly brewed green tea or any fermented milk drink before feeding.
It is worth forgetting about chips, fast food and other "harmful things", including alcohol, even in small quantities. Forget the myths about beer making you milk.
In the body of a nursing mother, the content of vitamins and minerals is 30%, and sometimes 50%, below the norm. It is better to discuss with the doctor the introduction of a vitamin and mineral supplement.
Eating for two, as our great-grandmothers said, is not worth it. In general, it is enough to add 20% to your diet.

Sample menu for a nursing mother

When compiling a menu for a nursing mother for the first months, it is necessary to take into account a list of products that will help regulate the functioning of the digestive tract. The fact is that during lactation, many women suffer from constipation, and in order to avoid this, you need to eat foods high in coarse fiber. These are whole grain cereals, bran bread, whole grain toast, apples with skin, and so on.

A daily menu option for a nursing mother could be:

Breakfast:

1st option: omelet with cheese, tea with milk, a slice of grain bread.

2nd option: oatmeal/buckwheat/millet porridge in water with fruit and a spoonful of honey, cocoa, half an apple or other fruit.

3rd option: cottage cheese casserole with jam, black tea with milk, toast.

Lunch:

1st option: vinaigrette, chicken broth with croutons, steamed vegetables, meatballs, apple juice.

2nd option: vitamin salad, plain cabbage soup, casserole with potatoes and minced meat, dried fruit compote, a couple of slices of bread.

3rd option: mashed cheese soup with oven croutons, boiled potatoes with herring, green tea.

Snack:

1st option: a couple of cheesecakes with honey.

2nd option: fruit salad of apples, pears and peaches with oatmeal, dressed with natural yoghurt.

3rd option: bran bread toast with tuna and herbs.

Dinner:

1st option: lazy dumplings with sour cream sauce, black tea with milk.

2nd option: baked cod in foil with vegetables, buckwheat porridge, compote.

3rd option: steam meatballs baked with broccoli cheese, green tea with lemon.

Nursing mother's nutrition by months

A varied and proper diet of a woman in this period is the key to the health and successful development of the baby. In order not to have to study books on the menu of a nursing mother and the Internet immediately after giving birth, think over the recipes for the first week in advance, preferably by the day. When you leave the hospital, this concern will fall on your shoulders, so it will be good to prepare.

First week

The adaptation of the child is just beginning, so this is the most important time. The first week should be planned so that there is no milk on the menu of a nursing mother. There is a stereotype that it is it that contributes to an increase in lactation. But it does not help in this. It has been proven that milk provokes gastrointestinal dysfunction in the mother and child, and can also provoke allergies in the baby. But fermented milk products are more acceptable for his digestion. It is not advised to drink juices and fruit drinks, strong tea and coffee, eat nuts in the first week.

During the first three days, you can drink herbal tea (nettle, chaga), special lactagon drinks with cumin, fennel, and others. Compote from dried fruits is also allowed, preferably from apples, which are simply poured with hot water and left in a thermos. Black and green tea should not be abused so as not to cause overexcitation of the baby's nervous system due to the presence of caffeine. What can you eat to make the menu of a nursing mother balanced:

Boiled or steamed vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, turnips).
Kashi (buckwheat, millet) is best made from whole grain flakes, a little bran can be added to stimulate bowel function.
Vegetarian soups with a minimum of potatoes.
Oven baked apples.
Bread.
Parsley, dill, spinach, arugula are allowed, they help relieve gas formation.
Kefir, natural yogurt, cottage cheese (only a spoon at first), a piece of cheese is possible from the fourth day after childbirth.

By the way, the menu of a nursing mother after a caesarean section differs from the nutrition of a woman after natural childbirth only in these first days. The abdominal operation forces the intestines to adjust to normal work. Of course, ideally, you should do without the help of cleansing enemas and laxative suppositories. Usually, after a caesarean section, mothers consume low-fat chicken or veal broth (secondary), boiled fish, cereals on the water (but not rice). By the fourth day, you can switch to the usual diet provided for during lactation.

First month

In the second week, the number of dishes increases slightly, but without fanaticism. It is still important to ensure that foods with a high allergenic potential do not enter the menu of a nursing mother from the first weeks. You can start cooking a weak beef broth, eat 100 g of beef, the same amount of low-fat steamed fish.

It is important to follow a simple rule: meat, eggs, fish and other products must be well cooked. Recipes when you need to eat raw eggs, sushi, and so on, are not allowed on the menu for a nursing mother either in the first month or in the next 5-6 (minimum). You also need to limit your intake of sugar, salt, spices, onions, and garlic, which can detract from the taste of milk.

In the fourth week, the intestinal microflora is formed in the child, enzymatic systems are launched. Therefore, when 1 month at the end, the following products can be added in the menu of the nursing mother:

Potatoes in “Treaty”
oatmeal
Coor
Boiled eggs
Dry Cookies 9005
Morses from lingonberries or Klyukvy

0

Second month

Let's start with what food should be avoided for now and in the menu of the second month of a nursing mother. It causes increased flatulence white cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes; sodas, black bread, legumes and grapes. Other foods are strong allergens. Among them are chocolate, pumpkin, citrus fruits, berries, honey, nuts, crayfish, crabs, caviar, red fish.

The menu for breastfeeding mothers becomes even more varied in the second month. The main thing is that a woman receives the substances necessary for life: vitamins, trace elements, fiber, proteins, unsaturated fatty acids. For this, it is important to consume:

dairy and sour-milk products
lean meat of beef, rabbit, chicken, turkey without skin
lean river and sea fish
butter and vegetable oil
vegetables and fruits (green and yellow apples, banana, pear, kiwi, plum)

It often happens that when a baby is a month old, the menu of a nursing mother becomes too relaxed. But the time for variety, cakes, fast food and a glass of wine has not yet come. An illiterate diet during this period can not help, but harm the baby: provoke constipation, colic, allergic reactions and poisoning.

Third month

After 2 months, the menu of a nursing mother is still aimed at developing and strengthening the child's immunity. By the way, at this time, the figure of a woman is actively returning to normal. The fact is that lactation is an energy-consuming process. Every day, at least 700 kcal burns due to it. And if you reduce the consumption of fat, then this will not affect milk in any way. The body maintains its constant fat content, regardless of how much fat came with food.

At 3 months, the menu of a nursing mother is supplemented with interesting dishes. Just do not chase after too difficult ones so as not to take up precious time that can be spent on relaxation. The desire to do everything sometimes causes stress in the mother, and it certainly does not contribute to the production of milk.

We offer a look at the menu for a week for a nursing mother, recipes and photos of which you can easily find on the Web. So it is allowed to eat in the third month of lactation. If one of the products is difficult to buy, feel free to replace it with another permitted one.

Monday

breakfast: barley porridge
lunch: cauliflower soup, corn porridge with meatballs
Dinner: spinach paste

Lunch: cauliflower soup, corn porridge with meatballs
Dinner: turkey stew with vegetables

Wednesday

Breakfast: cottage cheese casserole with apples
Lunch: soup with chicken meatballs, beetroot salad with prunes and feta
Dinner: stew with turkey and vegetables

Thour 9000

breakfast: buckwheat porridge
lunch: soup with chicken brushes, integral salad and feta
Dinner: fish casserole

Friday

Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: squash soup, buckwheat porridge, rabbit in sour cream
Dinner: Fish casserole

Saturday

Breakfast: millet porridge with pumpkin
Lunch: soup puree, buckwheat porridge, rabbit in sour cream
Dinner: pancakes from pancakes, salads from pitch and kurags

Sunday

Breakfast: pancakes without eggs with banana and blueberries
Lunch: Ratatui soup, zucchini casserole and rice
Dinner: pancakes from the liver and buckwheat

The table of permitted and prohibited foods by month is important, as are simple recipes, but the main filter of a nursing mother's menu is her baby's well-being. In everything you need to know the measure, including the use of healthy food. It is necessary to replenish the diet with a product unfamiliar to the child with caution, once every three days. And remember about water, but do not bring yourself to edema. For this, you should not drink too much at night.

Photo: Getty Images; xhere; Unsplash

What is feeding, or feederism, and why is it dangerous?

Instructions for survival

Daria Sukharchuk in adulthood. Afisha Daily asked people who were forced to eat how it affected them, and talked to psychologists and a nutritionist about the dangers of overfeeding.

Updated (May 17): The Merciless PR man Telegram channel published a post where he told how he deceived the Afisha Daily editor while preparing this material. In short, a letter arrived in the mail of Darya Blagovaya, in which the girl, who introduced herself as Marina, spoke about how her partner was force-feeding her. We became interested in this phenomenon and decided to look into the issue. It turned out that feederism is a common form of domestic violence, and we easily found heroes who experienced this, and also interviewed experts who understand the topic.

Since the story of the fictional Marina was included in the final text, the editors of Afisha Daily apologize to its readers (we consider editing the material - in this case after the fact - wrong). In our country, cases of domestic violence are recorded very rarely, so it is almost impossible to check whether the heroes actually experienced it. Under these conditions, we tend to believe victims of domestic violence and, with their consent, tell stories in public.

What child-feeding looks like

“The worst holidays of my life were the months we spent visiting my mother's friend's parents in Brandenburg,” Sascha says. At home, she was never forced to eat, but rather, on the contrary, she was taught to say in advance how much food she needed. But in Brandenburg, they put a huge plate from an old service in front of her, on which lay "a whole bunch of food": cabbage, potatoes with sauce, a pile of meat and "some cranberry or apple in the corner." “Traveling to the other side of this plate was like crossing a desert, only to cross it, I had to rake all this sand into myself,” the girl recalls. Most of all, it was not the fat content of the food that irritated her, but its quantity - even now, according to the already adult Sasha, one such plate would be enough for her for the whole day.

“I still remember these dinners as something terrible,” she says. “They were accompanied by endless discussions. There were absurd constructions about my future and how it would be spoiled if I didn’t eat enough. Once they even told me about their distant relative, a Frenchwoman, “wrong” and thin. In this family, French women were the embodiment of all the worst in a woman's life: they were simultaneously allegedly involved in prostitution, enjoyed it, and strove to have children out of wedlock. It all had something to do with their thinness."

Lyubov remembers that she was always a slender girl, ate little, and this did not bother her mother: she cooked dietary food herself and allowed her daughter to eat as much as she herself wanted. But it seemed to her grandmother and aunt, who lived in the village where Lyubov spent all her holidays since childhood, that she was too thin, and they fed her fatty foods: fried meat, lard pies, borscht. “They put a plate of food in front of me and forbade me to get up from the table until I had eaten everything,” she says. “It could go on for hours, the food got cold, it smelled bad, I fell asleep right at the table, but I couldn’t leave.” Sometimes one of the adults could sit next to them to hurry the child. They tried to feed love from a spoon, read endless lectures, in which they set the neighbor girls as an example: “They said that since they are so fat and strong, they will definitely be married, and no one will marry a bad one, because she will not be able to work. They also told me that food is the building blocks for my body, and since it is being built, I need to eat a lot. Lyubov says that even now, when she is thirty, her grandmother is still trying to feed her and at every meeting she repeats: “Eat, Lyubasha, eat!”

Why do adults force children to eat a lot? Victoria Suksova believes that children are so often fed on the territory of the former USSR, because for the older generations, satiety was a matter of survival, and thinness was perceived as a sign of poor health. Psychotherapist Vlad Bukhtoyarov also connects the tendency to food violence with painful memories of famine times: “In our countries, almost every family in the last couple of generations has faced hunger: many families have either memories, or a grandmother who remembers the blockade of Leningrad, the post-war famine, or even famine. In addition, many were malnourished in the nineties. These traumatic memories give rise to a number of irrational attitudes: for example, that there is not enough food, and you need to eat while they are giving.

It is with painful memories of the famine times that Bukhtoyarov explains the panic that began after the introduction of food sanctions: it seemed to many that something terrible was about to begin. “At the same time, force-feeding a child is a form of food violence, and talk about “if you don’t eat porridge, you won’t be strong,” “if you’re thin, you won’t get married,” are projections of adult fears onto a child,” explains Bukhtoyarov.

If the fear of hunger is more characteristic of older generations, then modern parents are more likely to be guided by expert advice. Victoria Suksova believes that now knowledge about how a child should develop and how much food he needs is often drawn from popular pedagogical literature and television programs. “A mother can seriously worry about the fact that her child does not eat all the prescribed 200 grams, because she is trying to fulfill her parental duty in accordance with certain standards broadcast by society and specialists,” says Suksova. “Besides, feeding may just be one of the manifestations of an authoritarian style of parenting, when the parent is used to the child doing everything as he is told.” Under this model, according to the psychologist, any disobedience can be seen as disrespect for the authority of adults. In this case, the specialist recommends that parents think about the consequences that their actions may entail, reflect on how this feeding may affect the child, their relationship in the future: “Sometimes you just need to stop and think: why am I doing this? What do I want in the future? What do I reinforce and develop with my words, actions?

Why do adults force other adults to eat? In the case of adults, feeding is more noticeable when a person is forced to eat some specific foods that do not suit him due to his tastes or beliefs. “In appearance, everything is decent: you are invited to the table, you are offered treats. However, you cannot refuse the meal entirely or even partially, because you depend on the inviter.

Moreover, this dependence can be very different: from emotional dependence (for example, refusal to share a meal with a parent will be perceived as an insult to parental feelings) to material or official dependence, when the inviter is your boss.

In Russian and foreign forums, you can find many stories (most often anonymous) about men forcing their partners to eat a lot and gain weight. This is a less common practice than coercion to lose weight - but at its core, they are in many ways similar. A similar story happened to Marina (the name was changed at the request of the heroine. - Note ed. ). When they met Ivan (name changed. - Note ed. ), Marina was 27 years old, her weight was kept at the level of 62–63 kg with a height of 167 cm. “My figure never differed in fragility, but I tried to keep myself in shape,” says Marina. - In the evenings, when Ivan stayed with me, he often brought food from restaurants. I didn’t see anything wrong with that - it’s nice when a loved one wants to pamper you. Ivan knew the phone numbers of all local delivery services. He was very caring and handsome. The sex was great. I kept thinking how lucky I was with a man.” But one day Marina fell ill, she had no appetite at all, but Ivan began to insist that she eat. Marina refused for a long time, and suddenly Ivan admitted that the process of eating excites him, and if she does not eat, he will be very upset.

Relations with Ivan began to revolve around food: gradually this topic began to occupy most of their conversations. Marina became annoyed by the "endless food" and her increased weight, due to which she stopped wearing her favorite things. She already weighed 85 kg, and Ivan began to jokingly call her "bun". Marina signed up for a gym and a nutritionist, and was able to convince Ivan to bring less food. But after a few months of classes, when the weight began to decrease, Ivan had another breakdown: he brought a package of food, the next evening everything happened again, and all Marina's efforts "went down the drain. " Quarrels over food began again, and one of them ended in a fight - then Marina decided that she had to run away. The next day, she packed her things and moved in with her mother. Since then, she no longer saw Ivan, although he continued to demand new meetings. By her own admission, Marina does not consider herself traumatized, and after parting, she felt great relief. The girl began to go to the gym again, and now she is happy with her weight. But until now, Marina does not like to go on dates to restaurants and hates pizza.

According to Svetlana Timofeeva, a person who tries to force feed his partner perceives him as an object and does not take into account his individual preferences and needs. “Food does have a certain erotic context,” says Vlad Bukhtoyarov. - In itself, the inclusion of food and fullness in the sexual game is normal. But, like everything in a healthy relationship, this should only happen with the mutual consent of both participants. Forcing a person to gain weight is no better than forcing him to lose weight, and what Ivan did was, of course, a form of violence. ”

Consequences of feeding

A person who was fed in childhood, in adulthood, may have a poor sense of his feelings - for example, not notice the feeling of satiety and hunger. Lyubov speaks about this: “In childhood, I simply did not separate the feeling of hunger from other unpleasant sensations, so I did not understand when I needed to eat. Once, already in my teens, I did not eat for several days - and then for the first time I was afraid of my own weakness. It seems to me that this is more of a nervous problem, because I never wanted to lose weight on purpose, I was already thin to the point of transparency. Now, according to Lyubov, she has no problems with nutrition, but sometimes she still has to remind herself to eat.

“In childhood and adolescence, a relationship with food is formed in a person - the child develops preferences for certain foods and trains the physiological mechanisms responsible for the feeling of hunger and satiety,” says nutritionist Maria Budryte, a graduate of King's College London. - In order to avoid problems with overeating in adulthood, a child needs to learn to eat in the amount that his body requires. A healthy body knows when it needs to eat, and children are no exception. If a child gets hungry, he will ask for it himself.” Vlad Bukhtoyarov also says that the child should decide for himself how much food he needs and when, parents only need to provide the child with access to the right food. However, according to the expert, the traditional model of parenting does not assume that the child has the freedom to make decisions - when the child will eat, sleep or play, parents usually decide.

According to Lyubov's recollections, visiting her grandmother felt almost constant stress, especially when it came to food. Victoria Suksova believes that force-feeding causes a more active protest in the child, because it is a violation of bodily boundaries. As a rule, feeding is perceived as more painful than, for example, forced viewing of "War and Peace", and spoils the relationship between the child and those who feed him more.

“For an adult, feeding can turn into problems with the digestive organs, as well as a feeling that they don’t put you in anything and don’t reckon with you. That you deserve to be “raped by food,” says Svetlana Timofeeva. According to her, such treatment and the suffering associated with it can also lead to an eating disorder - compulsive overeating or, conversely, refusal to eat. In the very situation of force-feeding, the person who is being fed will be angry and feel guilty, regardless of whether he agreed to eat what he did not want (and felt weak and insignificant), or refused (and offended the one who fed him), explains the psychotherapist.

When help is needed

According to Maria Budryte, both malnutrition and overeating are dangerous in childhood. Malnutrition can affect the development of the nervous and immune systems, as well as lead to excess weight in adulthood. If the child's parents suspect that the child is underweight or is not eating enough, they should consult a doctor. And treatment should take place under the supervision of specialists - nutritionists and endocrinologists.

Overeating, which feeding often leads to, is also dangerous: it can lead to obesity, which increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the future. In addition, it is sometimes associated with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia in adolescence. “You should not scold the child for not finishing his portion or refusing to eat because he is already full,” Budrite says. “If the child systematically refuses to eat, try to understand the reasons for this behavior.”

For those who themselves seek to feed their loved ones against their will, family therapist Svetlana Timofeeva advises to think about what feelings they want to express by persistently offering food, and come up with another way to demonstrate them. “In some cases, the need to feed, feed, can mask other, deeper and unrealized needs of a person - for example, to be significant for another,” says Timofeeva.