At our table

The sheet

For every adult who eats with your child: who decides what at meals, how the family talks about food and bodies, and when a worry about eating needs the GP.

For the grown-ups · A4, two sides · Two pages · PDF, 65 KB

How it helps

Children pick up a great deal from what the adults around them say about food and bodies. A few rules that every adult in the house keeps can make mealtimes calmer and keep weight and appearance out of family talk. The back says when a worry about eating needs the GP.

How to use it

1. Read it with the other adults who eat with your child, and agree the rules you’ll all keep. If your child is being treated for an eating disorder, or has a condition that affects what they eat, their team’s plan comes first; if you’re worried they may have an eating disorder, ring your GP first.
2. At meals, you decide what is offered, when and where; your child decides whether to eat, and how much. No bribes, and no comments on their plate.
3. Leave bodies and weight out of family talk, your own included. If your child says something about their body, ask what made them think that, and listen.
4. If your child starts eating much less, hides food, seems frightened of putting on weight or gets upset after eating, ring your GP for the earliest appointment.

How to get this sheet

This sheet comes with a subscription. It is also yours with its chapter, if that is the chapter you read free, or if a teacher or therapist sends it to you. School staff and therapists signed in to their shelf can print it too.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full, with its sheets. This one goes with Eating and Control and Body Image.

Free to print

These are free to anyone, with nothing to sign up for.

• A plan for a bad dayTo fill in together · A4
• Before you ring the schoolFor a call or a meeting · A4
• What to say: school and friendsCards to cut out · A4, eight cards to cut
• Before the SENCo meetingFor a meeting · A4
• Three reports, side by sideFor a meeting · A4 landscape
• The return-to-school meetingFor a meeting · A4
• The move to secondary school, for a parents’ eveningFor a parents’ evening · A4, five pages
• The last half-hour before bedFor the fridge · A4
• The worry ladderTo fill in together · A4
• Before you see the GP about your childFor an appointment · A4, two sides
• A record of what happenedFor a call or a meeting · A4, two pages
• The people I can tellTo make together · A4, two pages

Every sheet, marked free or with a subscription, is at theparentbook.com/printables.