getting children to try new foods...
I've never been a fast food or kid food kind of a parent. Mac and cheese and hot dogs are not staples in my home but a rarity. They make an appearance only a couple of times a year... generally in the summer, when the grill's all lit up. I've never cooked a separate meal for my kids. My kids must try at least one bite of what's been put in front of them. This includes my 14 year old. When my kids were little I didn't give them buttered noodles or something similar as a substitute to a more grown up meal. Now, before I continue I will be the first to say that my children are not perfect. We have our own food issues, with flavors, textures, etc. My kids, of course, would rather feast on pizza, fries, chips, ice cream and cookies. But I do not allow it. They are allowed a treat every day. I try to get as much color into their diet as I can.... and not by the way of Skittles and m&ms!!!
From the day they were given permission to eat I fed them (following all the allergy guidelines) everything, from all food groups. I bought organic babyfood and I made a lot myself. As they grew older I added my own spices and seasonings. My children, from early on, were exposed to garlic, cumin, paprika, peppers, etc... You name it they tried it. They much prefered the flavored foods over the blander choices. They were exposed to cuisines from all over the world... France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, China, Japan, India, etc... I have friends who are French, Norwegian, Mexican... You think they don't feed their children foods and flavors from their native countries? Of course they do! So, why in American do we think it's necessary to offer hot dogs (have you read the list of ingredients on those?) buttered noodles and pizza bites? What's the logic and reasoning?
We have a family dinner almost every night. We work it around homework and sports but we work it in. It's important to me and it's important to the children. I can't imagine having a family dinner and making two meals, even more! Sometimes, due to intolerances and allergies, we do have to make other provisions, but that's not what I am talking about here. In my meal we have a protein which is usually fish or chicken and once a week we have meat. I always offer veggie and a starch and there is at least something that each child likes. So that if they all don't like the protein or the veggie they can have a bite and then leave the rest, but there's enough food so that they won't go to bed on an empty stomach.They are not allowed to fill up on the starch. If they are hungry after dinner (I don't do dessert) they can have fruit or yogurt.
We have a family dinner almost every night. We work it around homework and sports but we work it in. It's important to me and it's important to the children. I can't imagine having a family dinner and making two meals, even more! Sometimes, due to intolerances and allergies, we do have to make other provisions, but that's not what I am talking about here. In my meal we have a protein which is usually fish or chicken and once a week we have meat. I always offer veggie and a starch and there is at least something that each child likes. So that if they all don't like the protein or the veggie they can have a bite and then leave the rest, but there's enough food so that they won't go to bed on an empty stomach.They are not allowed to fill up on the starch. If they are hungry after dinner (I don't do dessert) they can have fruit or yogurt.
Our children today are not eating as well as we did when we were growing up. That's a fact. They're not getting the same amount of exercise that we did. That's a fact. They're heavier than we were. That's a fact. They do not need more sugar or more additives. That's a fact. They eat too many as it is. That's a fact. They ingest too much sugar. That's a fact.
And for this reason the photo above really upsets me. The orange and the chocolate do not upset me. This is perhaps my favorite combination. In the world. Ever! In fact we had a chocolate fondue for dessert on Valentine's Day and in addition to the bananas, strawberries and pieces of pound cake, I had the blood orange segments... all to myself... ready to dip into that warm, rich, decadent chocolate! In fact, as we ate I even made a little joke about sneaking in some fruit. But it was a joke.
I found the above picture on Pinterest, and being the chocolate orange lover that I am, my eyes were automatically drawn to it. And then I read the caption. "Chocolate Covered Clementines & Homemade Magic Shell: Love this idea for getting the kids to try some new fruits!" Really? We must use chocolate to get kids to try fruit? We must use chocolate to get kids to try something that is already sweet? Why can't children eat fruit for fruit's sake? Why can't they learn to like wholesome, healthy foods without additives or addtional sugars? Does anyone else take issue with this?
As our children get older and more independent they are face to face with harder choices. They attend parties loaded with junk food and head out for pizza and ice cream. We know they won't make the best decisions all the time so we must do our part as parents while they are still under our roofs... and we must teach them to make the right decisions while they are young. Now, going totally to extremes is not necessarily the best choice either. I've seen children who came from organic and natural homes go completely overboard over and over again when exposed to the less healthy options. The thing is to teach that everything is OK in moderation, while arming them with the knowledge of what is good and what isn't.
What's your take on this? I'd love to hear it, and I would love to know your thoughts on introducing fruit dipped in chocolate to a diet as a way of getting a child to try something new.
XOXO,
I agree completely! Personally, I don't agree with trying to coerce children to eat healthy foods, particularly with sugar. Years ago McDonalds didn't exist, cookies, cakes, soda... children survived, and thrived without these "foods" cluttering up the kitchen. It is entirely possible to raise a child to sit and eat food, real, honest food. The reality is that parents are stretched far to thin, and prepackaged, boxed, processed foods are awfully attractive to exhausted parents and vocal children.
ReplyDeleteChildren are fully capable of understanding the nutritional needs (beyond the food groups) of their bodies. Just recently, I explained to my children what BVO is, what its made from and what it can potentially do to the human body. The following day, we happened to go out to dinner with some friends. All three of my children chose to order water to drink rather than soda. No fighting, no coercion, no bargains, or pleads. All due to the fact that they know, they understand.
I just don't think that people honestly understand food anymore. Its confusing, its well marketed, it changes constantly. Its also the #1 drug we use, and we can't avoid it. I think its a sad reflection on all of us that we can spend time watching cat videos, or reading about celebs, but we don't learn about our food. Maybe people don't know they should and I am being too harsh. Considering there are over 1,000 chemicals added to food that the FDA has no idea about, no safety tests, just GRAS (generally regarded as safe)... to me that's scary. I think the food issue in this country goes much deeper than a chocolate covered orange, and you are completely right. I know my reply is long winded, food is an issue I have been learning about for the past 10 years. It stresses me out, it frustrates me...
As for myself, I eat many foods with no added spice or sauce. People always say try it with ... it is so much better. But why would I want to add cheese or chocolate sauce to something I already like? Don't get me wrong I love a tasty meal and I love a tasty dessert but I don't need vanilla ice cream to enjoy my apple pie.
ReplyDeleteYou have touched on one of my biggest pet peeves as a parent. I have friends who will say "my kids won't eat that". Well, my kids didn't love it the first time they tried it either.......BUT they have learned how we eat in our house and they've adapted. I make all our babyfood as I want to know what goes into my babes mouths. It's not hard, it just takes planning. (And I'm a planner!!) it's the same with dinners. Both my husband and I work full time and are out of the house at least 50 hours a week. Yet, we still make at home dinners 28/30 times a month. It's not hard, it just takes planning. We carve out that time on the weekend, shop for all our meals, and then eat what we have planned. It also significantly reduces our food waste.
ReplyDeleteSpencer eats all kinds of foods. Yes, he thinks that chicken nuggets at daycare are great but he has never had one in my house. We don't buy them, ever. He loves broccoli, he loves chicken, he loves a lot of foods that I know my friends have never even tried with their kids b/c "they would never eat that". Well, let them try and always insist on a no thank you bite. Spencer will not let a green bean touch his lips, and I think that's okay. He gets veggies every day in other ways and we all have foods we don't like. Totally fine. But we need to encourage a huge variety of foods for our children. And we need their diet to be colorful!!!!!!!!
I'm definitely going to link to this post in the next week and write my own version of how we have encouraged the kids over time as I have a lot to say about it! Thanks, Jess!!
Thank you Amy and Mary Beth... I could have gone on and on and on... but I refrained myself!
ReplyDeleteAnne, Christopher wouldn't eat peas until this year. It took 11 years and he will only eat them with mashed potatoes!
Part 1 from a comment that was left to me: Oooooooo! I love this post and I only hope that I have enough time to say all that I need to say. I'm not exactly sure what is going on in this country. I will say that people are chooing to be busier than ever and somehow we think that we need to be that busy because everyone else is.
ReplyDeleteCooking whole foods requires a fair amount of time and consumes most of my day. Add grocery shopping, cleaning, dance, working out, teacher conferences, volunteering, and I have full time job without a full time job! Also cooking makes a tremendous amount of mess in my home as well, which needs to be cleaned before the next meal. So it's no doubt that people prefer the fast food line. However it's NOT an option for my family.
We buy locally grass fed, free range meat, from our local farmer and during the summer we cut, chop, can, slice, and dice our way to health via a Community Farm Share. I have one daughter who eats anything and actually prefers to eat peppers like apples, and then the other daughter who would live on cheese pizza if we let her. But alas, cheese pizza isn't even an option on our home 6 days/week. We do not even eat a treat per day.
I really need my kids to know that most eating is non-pleasure eating. It's eating to live, to survive, to raise their metabolism. It isn't meant to taste like candy (although I do try hard to balance both) but only to meet their nutritional needs. On the 7th day of the week we have a treat day where they are allowed anything and everything in whatever amounts they wish. You would not believe what this accomplishes. I have a daughter who will not eat cheese pizza on treat day...she becomes incredibly picky. She thinks she likes cheese pizza but when given the freedom to have whatever she likes she usually chooses something else. I like ice cream, I might eat it every treat day but nobody else in my family indulges in that. Shawn chooses cereal (no, we don't eat cereal during the week either) but he loves it...I would never choose cereal. We've found that when we want to choose food that is bad for us during the week we often find that we don't like eat that food at all when we can. I'd call those cravings and not nutritional needs.
part 2 of the same comment:
DeleteIt's been a true awakening for us. My husbad and I have both lost 40 lbs and the kids are learning a lot about their choices and their bodies. Once you get the junk out of your life you find that apples, oranges, and strawberries ARE treats! You learn to love and feel connected to your food. And you don't waste! I'm happy that the lost art of cooking for your family is not being lost in this home. My girls frequently have pride in opening up a frozen container of homemade salsa or a home jar of pickles. They understand how food works as fuel in their bodies. They are light years ahead of both their health and science teachers when it comes to nutrition. Most importantly they understand that they can trust that when they are very hungry their might be a reason and they can eat as much as they want, as often as they need provided they are putting the correct foods in their bodies. We eat high fat, high protein, high fiber foods, while losing weight and feeling amazing.
My kids must and will try everything. They are required to eat themselves thin which actually comes from eating and not starvation. I do have great kids. I totally expect them to make good choices when they aren't with me and most of the time they do. That's not to say that they haven't laughed about eating a package of Rolo's with grandma but that is truly where our balance comes in. We laugh about it and get right back on track the next meal. I wish you talked more about healthy, fast meals, on a budget for families. Our local, organic, grass fed beef is $2.59/lb. I can't imagine even McDonald's beef costing less than that! We get a case of veggies in the summer for $25/week. At the very least a little prep time during the week can set you up for healthy meals at home. It takes planning, it takes dedication but it can be done. After all can we put a price tag on our health?
I'm not half as dedicated as she is!
Thanks for this reply Lorraine!
My sons have dairy, egg, tree nut and peanut allergies. There are very few brands of breads or any baked goods that they can eat. I usually have to bake them cookies or cake (and I dont' do it often. They can't eat most candies as if they don't contain 'milk' chocolate or nuts, they are processed in a plant with dairy, eggs, or nuts. They have never tried soda and my older son doesn't even like juice. Due to their challenges with autism, there are also texture issues associated with a lot of foods. I try to limit processed meats, however my son does like hotdogs and when he was 2, that was the only thing he would eat for dinner. However, every night, they eat a pasta bowl size salad with olives, carrots and tomatoes. The eat a bowl of broccoli each, and in addition to burgers, and some chicken, they love pasta. I also make homemade guacamole which they both love and the new favorite snack after school with the guacamole is kale chips. They have a small cone of soy ice cream every night. They have never been to McDonalds, Burger King etc. As they grow older, they may or may not outgrow the food allergies, but the foundation for healthy eating is there. They enjoy their salad, fruits and vegetables. That's half the battle isn't it?
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel bad for them, and me too. Just once in a great while it would be nice to be able to get some fast food at a drive thru and give myself a break, but they cannot eat out. I have cooked every meal for them since they were born. They don't miss the junk food because they never had it. They don't ask for sweets or candy.
Judi - You don't miss what you've never been exposed to. It's only bad when something you like has been taken away. Food allergies/sensitivities are very hard to work with. I commend you - and yes, sometimes it is nice to take out pizza or something to get a much needed break!
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