Saying “No” to Screens, and “Yes” to Music
Amanda Kyle, MA-CCC, SLP
Have you ever sat down to watch a movie with a bag of chips or popcorn, but by the time you made it through the previews, your snack is suddenly gone?
Watching a screen, whether it be tv, a movie or even scrolling online allows you to ‘check out’ of the eating process and we often do not realize we are eating. The same holds true with kids, and we do often see increased eating volumes while they are distracted in this manner. For weaning parents? The instant gratification that this brings makes distracted eating a really appealing option!
But, we will always encourage you to not use this as a strategy with the goal of increasing how much your child interacts with or eats food because, as funny as this sounds, our goal is to actually support them to increase how much they are eating. To do this successfully (as in, long-term!), your child needs to be present in the eating experience so that they can learn the skills necessary to progress as a successful oral eater.
Here's why this works:
Eliminating screens helps kids to tune into all of the sensory information that they are receiving during a meal. For infants, this looks like seeing the nipple, feeling it, chomping it, finding that it squirts, etc. For toddlers and beyond, this includes seeing the foods, smelling them, touching them, playing with them, discovering how they break apart, etc. All of this sensory information not only helps kids to build their wealth of knowledge about foods and to know what to expect when they are presented with different foods and textures, but it also helps them to begin to desensitize to these changes and be more tolerant of inconsistencies in foods (because most foods are not perfectly textured or flavored).
Eliminating screens helps your child to learn to tune into their bodies and to identify the different feelings surrounding foods and eating and how these make our bodies feel. Mainly, tuning in to feeling hunger, feeling the belly stretch as they eating, and learning the satiety cue that tells them it is time to stop eating. When we are distracted while eating, this satiety cue is easily lost.
So, while screens might lead to a temporary increase in volume of eating because your child is distracted with a screen, the long-term consequences, missed opportunities for sensory skill development and missed opportunities for learning to self-modulate (understand the feelings within your body) are far more detrimental then a short term lower intake volume, as well as impact ability to progress in these skills.
While I pretty much exclusively discourage use of screens while eating, I do often encourage use of music instead. Here’s why:
Sound and visual movement make you ‘check out’, especially to sensory information. However music, without the visual element has a very different effect. Music has been shown to help you to be able to better integrate sensory information. This means that learning in sensory exploration, especially with hard or new sensations, can be better tolerated, regulated, and learned about with the help of music. It can also help the brain make sense of that information a bit more efficiently.
Music can help with overall regulation. Music that is 60 beats per minute is very calming and regulating, so if you or your child are overstimulated or over energetic, this can help to bring things back down. Music that is 100 beats per minute is alerting and can help with attention to task. Various music streaming platforms have searchable playlists with songs that all match these tempos.
The presence of music does not need to be loud and overwhelming either for these effects to take place. Softly playing in the background, still allowing conversation at the table is adequate to support the system. So, while screen time during an offer is out, music while eating is in! Because it supports the long-term goal of helping children to grow into happy, independent eaters!