Indulgence, punishment and family dynamics: Maintaining a healthy relationship with food during the holiday season

"They call Christmas sweet, but for some, the holiday season can be a bitter pill. Food plays a central role during these dates, all socializing taking place at a table, with family. We tolerate excesses of alcohol, desserts and hyper-caloric dishes with festive indulgence, though afterwards we may start the new year with Spartan rigidity, signing up for the gym and putting ourselves on a diet."

"This duality of reward-punishment is not ideal when it comes to maintaining a healthy relationship with food, warn experts. Holidays can signal a return to the family dynamics from our childhood. Relationships with food are often hereditary, learned from our parents. But what happens when their attitudes about eating are not always positive, and a large family reunion means coming face-to-face with behaviors and comments about our physical appearance?"

"In general, food can unite people, improve well-being and create memories, says the expert. Food can offer a source of pleasure, structure and an easy excuse to spend time with friends and family, she says. The situation becomes more complicated when we understand that some beliefs that have been passed down to us about food and body image are not constructive, and that food can also be utilized to manage emotions, particularly during stressful family gatherings."

Christmas dinner averages around 6,000 calories, about triple the recommended daily intake. Food becomes the focal point of holiday socializing, encouraging consumption of alcohol, desserts and hyper-caloric dishes followed by restrictive behaviors after the holidays. Holiday gatherings can reactivate family food dynamics formed in childhood, transmitting unhelpful beliefs about eating and body image. Food can provide pleasure, structure and social bonding, but it can also be used to manage emotions during stressful family interactions. Parental obesity substantially increases the risk of obesity in offspring, indicating both genetic and environmental influences on eating patterns and weight.

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