The Craving Change children’s book, ‘Is this stomach, mouth or heart hunger?’ is meeting a need in many pediatric clinics. We receive consistent feedback that the story is a great tool for starting a conversation with a child about their eating. Initially, eating behaviours can be discussed in the third-person referring to the book’s character, Moe. The story also presents vocabulary that can be used by children, parents and health care providers when discussing eating behaviours. The appendix provides options for positive, healthy responses to the three kinds of hunger.
This week, a nurse from a pediatric clinic shared these comments:
“Our lifestyle program provides care for patients that are 2-17 years of age with a BMI >85th%. Our program is made up of pediatricians, a registered dietitian, an exercise specialist, psychologist and social worker and we offer our lifestyle counselling services for approximately 2 years (sometimes longer). Many families and patients are provided with your Craving Change website as a resource and we have provided copies of your children’s book for some families, as well. Our physicians discuss and explore the different kinds of hunger that patients are experiencing and discuss possible solutions to address them. Your book is often included in this conversation.”
