Medical X-Press – Staff Writer
“Traditional advice for helping families ensure their children and teens maintain a healthy weight begins with a focus on balancing calories consumed from food and beverages with calories used through physical activity and growth. Dr. Lenna Liu, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic and Child Wellness Clinic, uses a slightly different approach to support families with the complex issue of weight management. She starts by encouraging families to adopt a mindful approach to eating. In observance of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, Seattle Children’s asked Dr. Liu to explain mindful eating and give tips for how to create a positive environment in which to enjoy food to fuel our bodies. “Mindful eating is a more compassionate and holistic way to approach healthy eating,” said Liu. “It not only focuses on what foods we eat, but on how our bodies feel. It allows us to pay attention to hunger and fullness, emotional connections to food and the relationships involved in eating.” Mindful eating focuses on positives, rather than focusing on food restriction, counting calories and watching the scale for weight control.”(more)