kids and food

I was inspired by my friend, Shelly, tonight when she posted on facebook about a dinner that she had made that her kids wouldn't touch. I posted a few responses. They are a bit wordy and not too polished, but I have posted them below, I hope that they help. If you want more details on some of these ideas, let me know, I LOVE to help with this aspect of helping kids with their eating challenges, because I had so many when I was a child, and the result was never feeling like I was being heard about what I liked and didn't like, I was just told I had to eat it. (a note here that my biggest struggle with food was with my dad. I don't fault him for anything, because I know that he was doing all he knew to help me and he was doing it all out of love to get me to be healthy)

The biggest thing to remember with kids and food is that if they are hungry, they will eat and they don't need to be bribed with junk or a dessert to get them to eat their brocolli. Also, making food a into a battle or a power struggle, EVERYONE loses.

One thing I learned while working in an afterschool program that is so true, was this:

"you are responsible for providing healthy and balanced meals, but you are not responsible for how the child's body turns out"

Here are some of the things that I replied to my friend on facebook:

POST #1:
you might have them help prepare dinner, go shopping with you, or have each one plan dinner one night a week. On that night, they help prepare the meal. they will get more excited about the food, and you know they will eat it one ...day a week. you can make sure of the requirements for dinner with things like "you dinner must have a protien, veggie, fruit, complex carb"..you know, whatever your requirements are. you can put a "pyramid" on the kitchen wall so that they understand the different food groups and then talk about why it is important to have food from each. In the long run, not only will they end up eating more healthy meals, they will understand (through cooking with you) the effort that goes into preparing a meal, and will value it more...especially when people don't eat what they prepared on their cooking night. they will better understand your challenge. This would be a great topic at family home evening, right? You can have a calendar up and then assign 1 day a week to each child. throughout the month, they can go to their day and start to add things that they think of...you will start to see them add things from other meals eventually.

POST #2:
in my 30 years of watching children, they often have these challenges. a study showed taht it can take up to 48 exposures to a food for a child to even try it. another thing that can often... help kids..let's say you are having mac and cheese with brocolli and applesauce. they eat all the mac and cheese and want more..they can have as much as they want, and let them know that, providing that they try another food group first.

you can also puree broc and cauliflower and add to cheese sauce, spaghetti sauce, there are a million ways to add veggies into things

POST #3:
a little praise goes along way, and don't ever make it an issue. Just put dinner on the table and have everyone come to the table. they need to stay there until EVERYONE is done eating. don't make a bi...g deal about trying to get them to eat, just have the food on the table, let them serve themselves what they want..give them the power to choose their food, and if they don't try anything, or eat anything, don't say a word. the thing to remember is that you provide the healthy food, don't make a deal about suggesting or pushing, and if they eat, they eat, if they don't, they don't..they will eat when they are hungry.

****never make food a punishment or a negative experience. Food is meant to be enjoyed, but more than anything, it is meant to fuel our bodies so that they can function.*****

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou