Sarah Jessica Parker Doesn’t Want Her Kids To Have An “Antagonistic” Relationship With Food

Sarah Jessica Parker hopes her daughters take real “delight” in food instead of seeing it as the “enemy.” The mom of three recently opened up on a podcast about her efforts to break the cycle of food trauma in her family, and her plan involves her kids having access to cakes and cookies and all the good things whenever they like.

The And Just Like That... star recently sat down for an interview on the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast, where she spoke to host Ruthie Rogers about her relationship with food. Or more the relationship she hopes her 14-year-old twin daughters, Tabitha and Marion, will continue to have with food. Parker, who shares her daughters with husband Matthew Broderick along with 21-year-old son James Wilkie, explained that she is all about promoting a love of food rather than attaching any shame to eating.

“I [have] girls. I didn’t want them to have a relationship with food that was antagonistic or they felt like this was their enemy and that they were going to have to sort of like stake out a position with food,” she said, going on to explain that she grew up in a household where sweets were heavily restricted. “We weren’t allowed sugar in the house or chocolate or cookies, so of course, the minute we moved out, we all bought a load of cakes and cookies and I didn’t want that for [for my kids].”

This meant that, when Parker became a mother herself, she hoped to foster a different environment for her children. “In our house, we have cookies, we have cake, we have everything. And I think as a result, you kind of have a healthier relationship. My daughters will have the figures they have and hopefully they’ll be healthy and they’re athletes and they enjoy food.” Ultimately, Parker said, “I hope that they can maintain their affection for the experience and their delight in taste.”

Disordered eating continues to affect adolescents, with a 2023 study published in JAMA Pediatrics noting that one in five teenagers struggle with some form of eating disorder. Promoting a healthy relationship with food by making it less forbidden and more acceptable to get actual joy out of eating will hopefully break the cycle of food trauma that has been affecting generations of teens.