Feeding with Intention, Growing with Love.
When we think about feeding our children, it’s easy to focus on the basics, calories, nutrients, growth. But food is so much more than fuel. From the very first spoonful, the way we feed our children begins to shape their relationship with nourishment, body awareness, and self care. These early experiences at the table become the foundation for how they learn to care for themselves, physically, emotionally, and even socially.
As holistic nutritionists, we understand that feeding is never just about what’s on the plate. It’s about how that food is offered, the energy in the room, the rhythms of family life, and the subtle, powerful messages we send with every mealtime interaction. Whether we realise it or not, the table is one of the first places we teach our children about love, trust, and belonging and about how to listen to their own bodies.
When we approach feeding as a form of nourishment in every sense, not just nutritional but also emotional and spiritual, we give our children something far more lasting than any specific diet: a deep and intuitive connection to their own wellbeing.
Cultivating Habits, Not Just Meals
It’s not just the superfoods or the perfectly balanced plates that shape a child’s wellbeing most, it’s the quiet, consistent moments. The small rituals that repeat themselves, day after day. Because nourishment is not just about the food. It’s about how we offer it. How we receive it. How we live it.
Feeding our children is a daily act of devotion. A love language written in bite sized gestures. From the soft cut of fruit in the morning to the evening meal shared in soft light, every bite carries a message: You are seen. You are safe. You are growing.
And through this rhythm, habits are born, not in grand gestures, but in gentle repetition. A warm breakfast before school. A thoughtful, engaging lunch box made with love. A pause before dinner to exhale, to connect. The invitation to try something new without pressure. These are the quiet anchors that teach children to trust food, to trust their bodies, to trust themselves.
Healthy eating, at its most authentic, isn’t born from strict rules, it’s rooted in rhythm, in balance, in curiosity, in the simple act of sitting down together. Of letting flavours unfold slowly. Of teaching children to listen to their bodies, to trust their hunger, to recognise their fullness, and to enjoy food as both nourishment and pleasure.
When we make space for messy exploration, tiny hands tasting, rejecting, trying again, we’re not just teaching our children what to eat. We’re helping them develop a vital, embodied wisdom with the ability to know what feels good, to choose what supports them, and to find joy in the ritual of nourishment.
Because we’re not just feeding for today, we’re planting seeds of self care. Of presence. Of joy. The table becomes the first classroom of intuition. And the lessons? They’re subtle, sensory, and lasting.
Let us remember, our children don’t simply copy what’s on our plates. They absorb how we eat. How we speak about nourishment. Whether we honour it—or overlook it. These daily choices, though ordinary, are profound. They form the blueprint for how our children will one day nourish themselves.
So we cultivate not just meals, but moments. Habits wrapped in warmth. Nourishment laced with love.
This is where health begins, not with trends, but with truth. Not with restriction, but with ritual. And always, always at the table.
How children engage with food
Little palettes, big discoveries.
From the moment tiny hands reach for that first piece of soft avocado, or brightly coloured fruits, a child’s relationship with food is already a sensory symphony in motion.
In the holistic world, we see food not only as nourishment but as an invitation to a colourful and intuitive discovery.
Children don’t eat with rules, they eat with wonder.
Before flavour registers, it’s the colour that captivates them. The bright blueberries, the green florets of broccoli, ripe red raspberries. To the developing mind, this isn’t just food. Its art, play and science all at once. The colourful hues are more than just a visual delight, they’re natures way of signalling phytonutrients and antioxidants. Eat the rainbow, taste the rainbow. Because yes, it’s aesthetic but its functional.
Then there’s shapes and textures.
A crunchy cucumber paired with silky hummus. A bursting cherry tomato with fluffy rice. Children engage with textures just as much as taste. Squishing, smearing, poking, prodding, and sometimes rejecting. It’s not fussiness, its feedback. Trial and error is how they learn trust, in food and themselves.
Lottie say, ’As a holistic nutritionist, we champion this process’. Its not about enforcing clean or perfect manners, its about nurturing a relationship with food.
To eat, for a child is to explore. In that exploration there is wisdom that we as adults are to busy to remember. Sometimes the most nourishing thing we can do is to simply let them play with their food.
We must live in the present and nourish for a stronger tomorrow. The choices we make for today, directly impact our tomorrow, the same principle applies for the foods we choose to feed children with today, it helps shape and inform their tomorrow.
Children are naturally so curious and intuitive – these qualities are truly precious, and we should tune into them, allowing children to try more foods from an early age when they are more likely to explore and experiment without fear. Food habits are formed from a very early age, there are many factors that influence your little ones food feelings, from the food they see you eat, to the words you speak at mealtimes. We have a tremendous impact on their future relationship with food.
Monkey see – monkey do.
Have you ever noticed the way your child can mimic what you do? From the faces you pull to the words that sometimes slip out of your mouth… your children will also be encouraged and inspired by the foods you choose to nourish yourself with, especially when you are sat munching and connecting at the table together. If parents enjoy a wide variety of foods, their kids are more likely to try them too, so think about this when you next enjoy a family meal.
Another example is saying ‘you must finish your veggies’ or ‘you can have dessert if you finish your plate’ your language and reasoning behind food can create negative associations with food which can echo on throughout the years. Instead of solely deciding what and how much your child should eat, allow them to also be involved with what they wish to eat and how much of it.
And something so simple as the food that is readily available at home can impact your child’s preferences. If your pantry is packed with processed pick me ups as opposed to homemade healthy bites, fresh fruits and veggies, your kids will naturally turn to those sugary packaged goods. Why not create nourishing meals, with whole food, purposeful ingredients that will love your little ones back. Some simple and easy to options would be delicious overnight oats jars, you can serve these cold, or even heat them up for those colder months, also energy balls, these can be fun, colourful and a great source of natural energy. Think about adding in freezedried berry powders for vibrant colours, shredded coconut for texture and natural sweetness from agave or maple!
Lotties list
- a grocery list to nourish little ones, supporting them in their growth, strength + alertness.
- Oats and wholegrains – improve concentration and focus
- Eggs – help recall and support memory
- Oily fish, like salmon – promote healthy brain function
- Blackcurrants – reduce anxiety and stress
- Pumpkin seeds – enhance memory and boost mood
- Broccoli – improve brainpower
- Milk, yogurt and cheese – lead to better brain function
- Nuts and nut butters – help improve accuracy and reaction time
- Beans – help with concentration
- Lean meat – helps keep focus
- Bananas — quick energy and high in fibre, helps relieve constipation
Food is a delicious, nourishing love language, it is how children feel safety, how they feel seen, how they feel cared for and how they feel connection, all of which echo into their future and their adolescent food feelings.
This reminds us that children’s relationship with food begins not only on the plate, but in homes and hearts .
Because feeding your child is not simply about what’s on the spoon, it’s about everything that comes with it.
Written collectively by Lottie *eatlife and Robyn *eatlife.
Written collectively by Lottie *eatlife and Robyn *eatlife.