COMMON CAUSES OF UNHEALTHY EATING
HABITS
What are common causes of
unhealthy eating in teenagers?
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Unhealthy eating habits
develop over time. Generally, if a child does not have a healthy example
to model themselves after, poor habits develop. There
are many causes of unhealthy eating.
Some examples of circumstances that may lead to unhealthy habits
include:
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What are good questions to ask
a client to uncover the causes of unhealthy
eating? |
Dietitian Barb Pearl asks her
clients the following questions to help her determine whether her clients
have unhealthy eating habits and the reasons for such
habits:
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What if the client doesn’t
answer questions truthfully? |
Getting a “straight answer”
from clients can be tricky sometimes. This is particularly true when
asking sensitive questions that may indicate a client has unhealthy eating
habits. They may not feel
comfortable telling the truth. They may be embarrassed. In these cases,
the dietitian has to work to develop trust over time. It is appropriate to repeat these
questions (e.g., on follow-up visits) over time after developing a close
rapport with the client. | ||||||||||||
If a client demonstrates
unhealthy eating behaviors, how do you assess his/her readiness for
treatment? |
Sometimes you may meet with a
client who is not yet ready to begin a healthy nutritional program. Assessing a client’s readiness is
an important part of your initial meeting(s) with a new client. If the client’s goals are
unrealistic for his/her situation, you can discuss their goals with them
and do what you can to help them adjust their expectations to be safer and
healthier.
Sometimes clients are not
willing to adjust their expectations. In these cases, it is perfectly
acceptable to “agree to disagree”.
You may even suggest that the client take some time to consider the
options you presented and contact you when they are more ready to
proceed. In addition, sometimes you can
provide clients with tools to conduct self assessments that can help them
determine how ready they are to make the kinds of changes they need to
make. One example is a tool to help clients assess their “weight loss readiness”.
You may refer to this
quiz for helpful examples of the kinds of questions to ask when trying to
assess a client’s motivation, expectations, and eating behaviors. You can also use the feedback
provided in the quiz to get a sense for how to talk to your clients about
their readiness to change. There may be times when you and your client
come to the conclusion that they are not ready to lose weight and they
need to work on other life issues first.
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