March 4, 2026 ~ Lucy Ann Lance is joined by Shanthi Appelo, Registered Dietitian and Health and Wellness Spokesperson at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for this week's A Healthier Michigan! They focus on teaching children mindful eating habits to foster a healthy relationship with food. They also highlights how mindful eating helps with weight management, digestion, and recognizing fullness, with benefits extending to adults. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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Transcript
Teaching kids to eat with intention, not distraction.
I think we could all learn a lesson from this.
I'm Lucy Ann Lance, and it's time for A Health Air Michigan
from our friends at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
We welcome Blue Cross's registered dietitian
and health and wellness spokesperson,
Shanti Apollo back to 1290 WLBY.
Shanti, seriously, when I sit down to eat,
there's nothing mindful about it.
So you can say that this is for kids today,
but I'm going to be paying attention.
Good.
I mean, we can all learn from this
and the benefits that we see in children.
We can see in adults as well.
And I think one of the great things
about teaching this early during childhood
is that sets kids up to have a better relationship with food
and just be more mindful as they grow up.
So really what we do during childhood
is going to set them up for success later.
So describe what mindful eating really is.
Yeah, well, it's associated with a lot of benefits.
Understanding when you're full.
I can have with weight management, better digestion
and that healthy relationship with food that I mentioned.
Kids are basically noticing what the food looks like,
smells like, tastes like, they're slowing down
and chewing slowly, they're savoring the flavors
and then kind of acknowledging
how that food feels in the body.
And so that leads you to you noticing when you're full
and satisfied.
And so it picks our brain about 20 minutes
to recognize that it's full.
Some it's like, finally, hey, I'm good.
We don't need to keep eating.
And so that's some of the practices
that we learn when we mindfully eat.
That's the problem telling the brain to stop, right?
I mean, it doesn't matter how full I feel
if my brain is still saying eat, eat, eat.
For some reason, that's what I'm gonna do.
And when you're not mindful about that
and watching for some of the signals
that your belly is giving you, that you're full,
you that hand's going into that bag of popcorn
or whatever it is you're munching on.
And it's not stopping because you're not thinking about it,
right?
Right.
And there's part of this that's genetic, right?
It can be trickier for some people to stop over others.
But when we learn these practices during childhood
to listen to our body when it's full,
we're way more likely to carry it into adulthood.
And that kind of leads me to talk a little bit
about what happens with screens
because, you know, I think kids are distracted
by screens now more than ever.
And so eating in front of screens
can lead to larger portion sizes.
And this goes for adults too,
binge eating, anxiety,
and basically just eating more ultra processed calorie
dense foods.
And of course, we know that that can lead
to chronic health conditions.
Well, when I think back to growing up in the 60s and 70s,
we were not allowed to watch television
while we were eating.
Eating was a sacred time around the table
with family.
So it's easier to say we're not going to have the TV on.
Little harder when everyone's got their own
little device, right?
That they bring to the table.
I love those families that do the little basket
and the middle of the table.
And that's where you put your phone and put it away.
But I think as adults, we're very guilty of it.
And that really comes into why we should be demonstrating,
right?
So one of the best things that parents can do
is demonstrate putting away their own screens,
their own distractions, and really being present for the meal.
And something else that I think families can do together
is just take a few deep breaths before the meal,
and just encourage everyone to focus on the moment
and express gratitude for the meal.
For some people that may be prayer, for some people,
that may just be an expression of gratitude
and of itself, right?
And then talking about the food, what do the kids see?
What do they smell?
What do they taste?
And learning them to really get in tune with it
and then, of course, kind of eating slowly.
I think sometimes kids, when they're at the table,
they want to eat and then they want to ask if they can be excuse
so they can go play or whatever the next activity is
and so just encouraging that time.
Should we be making meal time fun time as well?
Obviously, an educational one by explaining
what they're eating, et cetera.
But are there little tips and tricks you have
to engaging kids in the meal as opposed
to everything going on around them?
For sure.
I think a lot of it is going to happen
before the meal and even after the meal.
So just giving them age-appropriate tasks, right?
Whether that's setting the table, putting things away
or being involved in the meal preparation,
can teach them cooking skills
and then just a good love for food, right?
And then if you want to do a little bit
of a longer-term project like planting and burning,
growing fruits and vegetables, herbs,
tend to be a little bit easier
and maybe won't be as difficult of a task,
but really involving them and growing these foods
can help increase their appreciation
and really be excitement for the healthy foods
because that's really what we want.
Sometimes these healthy foods are not as exciting
as the ultra-processed food ones
that are like fun animal shapes, right?
Well, and think about it.
When you do learn about the specifics of foods
or the type of spices that go into it
or how to discern one taste from another,
you're more likely to want to learn more about it
and to eat that or try it or start cooking with it.
I think kids who start cooking do so
because they have been introduced
to different ways of eating and things
that they didn't know before.
And so now they're exploring.
Now this is a lot of fun.
And I think that is really intentional too
on the part of parents to involve kids into the meal.
Yeah, definitely.
And I think we hear a lot about learning
how to cook later in high school,
even college in some cases,
but setting the foundation for a lot of these things,
just learning how to chop something, right?
It can be a really great foundation
and it starts early.
Sean Theopolo is a registered dietician
and health and wellness spokesperson
at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
And today on our A Healthier Michigan
from Blue Cross, we're talking about teaching kids
to eat with intention and not distraction.
This happens to be national nutrition month.
So perfect timing for this.
What is a final piece of advice you have
when it comes to helping kids do this
and to be more considered about meal time?
Yeah, I think it's not about perfection, right?
It's understandable that we're gonna have things
going on in our lives, whether it's practices after school.
And so practicing this mindful eating,
sure it can happen anywhere.
It could happen in the car if that's the last resort,
but I think prioritizing other meals
if you don't have the time for it.
So for example, sitting down at breakfast
or making weekends,
a lot more centered around these family meals
where you can practice this is a good idea.
And for more information,
our listeners can go online to
ahealthiermichigan.org,
that's ahealthiermichigan.org.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan puts that together.
Shanty, thank you so much.
Really exciting to think about our food
a little bit differently.
Whether you're a kid or an adult,
I think we all have to be more mindful.
So we appreciate your segment today.
Shanty, Apollo, Registered Dietitian Health
and Wellness Spokesperson at Blue Cross Blue Shield