Author’s practical guidance
Inhales food in under two minutes without chewing properly
Source named in the book: eating pace and satiety (Fisher)
Fast eating at this age is often a mismatch between appetite and mechanics — a genuinely hungry child has not yet built the habit of pacing that comes with practice.
Say this now
“Put your fork down between bites, like this.”
Models the specific action instead of naming the abstract problem.
“There's plenty. No need to hurry.”
Removes any sense of scarcity driving the speed.
Do this
- Serve smaller portions with the option to ask for more.
- Build in a short pause partway through the meal.
- Cut food into pieces that discourage large, fast bites.
- Eat at the same unhurried pace yourself, visibly.
- Avoid time pressure — no racing to finish before an activity.
Avoid this
- "Slow down!" repeated through the whole meal — adds noise without changing the pace.
- Taking the plate away as a consequence for eating fast — removes food from a genuinely hungry child.
- Racing them yourself as a joke — turns pace into a game, which speeds things up further.
If it repeats
If fast eating continues despite smaller portions and pacing cues, or if there have been any choking scares, that combination is worth raising with the pediatrician.
Why the book suggests this
Fast eating at this age is often a mismatch between appetite and mechanics — a genuinely hungry child has not yet built the habit of pacing that comes with practice. Fisher's research on eating pace found children who eat quickly are also more likely to eat past the point of fullness, since it takes the body a few minutes to register how much has arrived.
This is worth taking seriously for two reasons — it raises choking risk with certain foods, and it can quietly train a child to override their own fullness cues before those cues get a chance to register at all.
From this collection
Same Words: At the Table
45 prepared situations in this family area.