INTUITIVE EATING DIET QUALITY OF CHILDREN LIVING SEPARATELY FROM THEIR PARENTS
As human life continues, eating habits change rapidly from infancy to school age. The connection between mood and eating behavior in this developmental stage has been investigated by scientists for a long time. The function of nutrition and eating behavior, which is important for the continuation of human life, may reveal similar health problems over time in similar situations such as excessive-undernutrition or eating disorders, as well as the happiness it makes people feel. Including cognitive and emotional factors, it can have an impact on the individual's psychological characteristics, eating habits and weight control. This phenomenon can be seen not only in people who are obese or overweight, but also in many other individuals.
Attention should be paid to the issue of eating awareness so that people can become aware of and cope with their volatile emotional states lately. Cognitive restriction can also negatively affect the body weight and eating behavior of individuals, and malnutrition habits can be seen in those who cannot cope with the stresses we encounter in daily life and who diet for a long time with different methods. Eating behavior, which is related to people's emotional state, can be called "emotional eating". As a result of emotional changes, there is a separate connection from physiological needs between food preferences, frequency of meals and changes in the amount of eating. People's eating habits can vary according to joy, anger, sadness, depression, anxiety and other emotional states. However, it is not possible to make a general explanation about these relationships, because the relationship between eating tendency and mood may differ according to the individual's structural characteristics. According to the data obtained, especially negative emotions can have different effects on the eating tendency; Some individuals may experience a decrease in consumption, while others may experience an increase. According to the results of a study, in case of depression, distress and fatigue, people eat more than they normally consume; In the case of tension, fear and pain, it was determined that their food consumption was less than their normal consumption.
The most turbulent period of emotional change in human life is the adolescence period. Adolescence is the transition period from childhood to adulthood. physical growth; It ends with the end of sexual development and the formation of longer psychosocial maturation. adolescents; In the period in which they live, positive emotions such as happiness, compassion, love, as well as moods such as fear (related to concrete things, social relations, self, the unknown), phobias (height, social phobia, blood, open space), anger and anxiety often emerge. It is emphasized that the development of eating awareness, intuitive eating ability is an important factor in the control and acquisition of healthy eating behaviors and habits, especially in the control of body structure and weight, and the effectiveness of treatment in eating habits disorders. In order to protect and improve health, weight loss should be achieved in obese people. For the treatment of obesity, health professionals aim to achieve weight loss, which is the first goal of treatment with diet and exercise programs. When the effectiveness of these treatments is investigated for a long time, the concept of intuitive eating is encountered. This concept is associated with psychological and physical well-being. Intuitive eating relies on physiological hunger and signs of fullness for nutritional guidance.
It is important to increase the importance given to eating habits, to reduce the sensitivity of the foods consumed to emotions and thoughts, and to make healthier food choices.
Children who are emotionally deprived, separated from their parents and excluded from a healthy family environment; They try to cover up situations such as weight problems, suicidal tendencies, harming others and themselves, and not being able to take a step to fill the void inside them by focusing on their eating behavior. Of course, this is nothing more than trying to cover a deeply dug hole with a few twigs.
I came to the following conclusions as a result of my undergraduate thesis study in Samsun 19 Mayis University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition Sciences, about children living separately from their parents and having intuitive / emotional eating disorder:
• The continued existence of a healthy society; will continue to exist by our children, who are the building blocks of society.
• Protecting the mental and physical health of our children depends on a healthy and regular diet.
• Healthy nutrition depends on correct eating habits and eating behaviors.
In this context;
• There is a high probability of certain eating disorders in our children, whose family and family education, which is the most important factor in the formation of mental and physical health, cannot be completed,
• In cases where this risk does not prevent, much larger social problems can be seen,
• Increasing the number of specialist dietitians who can help solve this problem will be beneficial for the individual and the society in institutions dealing with children where there is a high risk of eating disorders, in schools where our children receive their basic education, and in family medicine clinics where the lack of knowledge of family members about child education will be eliminated.
Zubeyde SEMİZ
Healthy Nutrition and Dietetics
Instagram: /dytzubeydesemiz
