Recently I was at the Costco food court waiting for my husband. I watched the family next to me, where the mom was hand feeding her 9 or 10 year old child a slice of Costco pizza (700- 820 calories per slice, 14 grams of saturated fat). Her overweight son didn't want to eat it, but she forced him, and he washed it down with gulps of soda.
I love going out to eat at good restaurants and bring my children along. However, the proliferation of children's menus at restaurants, consisting of mostly fried and processed foods, makes my kids assume that those are the foods they should eat.
How did we start allowing our children to eat like this?
Yes, it's our fault as parents that we allow our kids to eat this way. But realistically, when we see everyone eat this way, it becomes the norm. But it shouldn't be. It's against human bodies to eat these highly-processed/high-fat, -sugar and -salt/no vitamins and minerals substances. And we see the results of this diet with our country's rising obesity and illnesses.
How do we stop?
Here are some ideas to start your kids on a lifelong path to healthful eating. Take some or all of my ideas and make up your own.
1. Don't bring junk food into the house.
If you forget everything I say in this post, remember this one. Don't bring junk food into your house. If you don't have junk food, you won't eat it. When you're hungry, you'll have an apple instead of a bag of Doritos. Everything else will just flow from this one rule.
2. Be a role model:
When your children see you eat fresh fruits and vegetables, they will follow. When they see you eating highly-processed Lean Cuisine, they think that's what they are supposed to eat (nope, not real food, and I don't care how many times companies tout their processed foods as "lean," "natural," or "healthy".).
Eat well. It's good for your health and it's good for your children.
3. Take your kids grocery shopping:
It's unbelievable how many children can't identify vegetables and fruits. Even high school kids. Even college kids. They won't eat it if they don't know what it is. Commit to taking your children grocery shopping often and allow them to pick out the fruits and vegetables. Don't second guess their choices: it's worth buying an old tomato your child picked (and one you wouldn't have) because it allows your child to make mistakes and allows your child to feel confident in shopping for fresh vegetables and fruits.
4. Try new vegetables and fruits:
The first time my niece tried a fresh pomegranate, she was about 10 years old and visiting my house. It was love at first bite. From then on, I always try to have a fresh pomegranate for when she visits. Jicama is a root vegetable that is pleasing to many children's palate. I skin and chop up the jicama into sticks and leave them out on a plate. Kids gobble them up. Good ol' cherry tomatoes are also fun to eat fresh. Cut star fruit was one of my favorite snacks as a child. Because it looks like a star, kids really want to taste them too.
5. Start growing:
Research shows that kids who garden tend to eat more fruits and vegetables. More importantly, kids who eat from their garden tend to prefer the taste of fruits and vegetables to other foods!
Don't have enough space? Try growing some mushrooms in your basement or closet. I'll be growing tomatoes and herbs this season in topsy turvy planters. Strawberry planters are also very easy and fun and can be grown on a porch where kids can pick the strawberries straight from the planter. And if you're really gung-ho, you can join the global apartment gardening movement.
6. Allow your children to help cook dinner.
Food tastes better when you make it yourself, and this applies to children as well. They are more tempted to eat the meal they help make since they saw what went into it (As a side note, I'm not a huge proponent of hiding vegetables in other foods because I want my kids to know what they should be eating, not tricking them into eating spinach disguised as a pancake).
An added bonus? Your kids learn to cook.
7. No second dinners:
Eat what's for dinner; no exceptions (well, except see #8 below). If you don't falter from this rule, your kids will learn that they will eat what is served or eat nothing at all. And don't worry about your picky child skipping a couple of meals. I've heard of no child dying because he didn't like what was for dinner.
8 a. Allow for "parts" of the meal:
My children know that they can't have anything except what's for dinner, with the one caveat that they can have any part of the meal separately, so long as it consists of mostly healthful food. For example, they can eat the leftover noodle, spinach, and cheese from the lasagna I've made instead of a slice of lasagna.
8 b. Allow the kids to pick what's for dinner:
No, not ice cream sundaes or fast food. A homemade dinner that they like. For example, my kids like to eat breakfast for dinner. This allows your children some power and decision-making in creating a meal plan.
If you and your family currently eat fast food and highly-processed ready-to-eat foods, starting a healthful plan is going to be difficult. You don't have to start out whole hog, so to speak. Allow yourself some time to ease into them, but I would suggest that once you start, try not to go back. If you make a mistake, just remember, 3 steps forward and sometimes 2 steps back. You can start gradually, with one or two ways of eating better, and gradually add more and more.
Just jump in and try. Keep trying to make the right food decisions every day. Make healthful eating a life style change. Do it for yourself and the health of your children.
Great post! Inspirational and I don't have kids!
ReplyDeleteNicki