Trying to decide what to feed your children so you can eat a meal together before 8:00 pm? It seems impossible to be able to run errands after school and still have supper on the table at a decent hour. You cannot be two places at once, so what is one to do? Plan, Plan, Plan… Confusing media claims makes it difficult sometimes to be able to decide what is actually a good food choice, but all in all go back to the basics. What makes up a healthy meal?
Have three different food groups in a meal. For instance, when you have a sandwich with turkey and pretzels and a diet coke for lunch, this only has 2 food groups a bread and protein. If you had turkey sandwich with 4oz to go fruit cup, and diet coke you would have bread, protein and fruit in your meal. Most people eat about 30 different foods. This is not much variety, if you think about all the different foods that are out there.
When you go to the grocery store make it a point to try a new food. Get out of the rut of buying only bananas, apples and oranges in the produce section. Children especially need to be offered a variety of foods. Children’s food preferences are generally formed by age seven. Children get their food preferences from their parents because they are offered foods their parent’s like. Think about it. Do you share the same food preferences as your siblings? Why? Because you were all offered the same foods. Most foods I do not like are simply because I did not eat them early in my childhood. For example, I don’t like grapefruit, turnip greens, and olives because I never ate those foods as a child. Honestly, I am not motivated to start eating those foods because they don’t appeal to me.
As adults it is our responsibility to decide: what, when, and where our children eat. It is the child’s responsibility to decide how much. This means what food is offered, when the food is offered, and where the food is offered. Keep it simple: what foods are healthy for children? Anything that is not in a wrapper for starters: fresh raw fruit or veggies with some low fat dressing, something that is colorful. Try raw sweet potato sticks or red bell pepper strips. You may think that sounds gross, but you’ll be surprised what kids will eat.
Be careful not to predispose children to accept or dislike a food. Offer new foods with foods you know they like. Offer foods even if you don’t like them, and keep your opinions to yourself. Snack foods that are good choices also include low fat milk or cheese sticks.
Children tend to drink more sodas with age, but they need calcium to build strong bones. How long does a gallon of milk last at your house? In 1977-1978, the average 12-19 year old female drank 12.5 ounces of milk a day and 9 ounces of carbonated beverages. In the1990s, the average milk consumption by the same group was 8.9 ounces a day compared to19oz of carbonated beverages.
Children drinking excess tea, breakfast drinks, soft drinks, fruit aid, and juice drinks can predispose them to being overweight and develop diabetes. Children are not born to be overweight. It is preventable. The bottom line is preschoolers only need 4-6 ounces of juice a day per the American Academy of Pediatrics. Limiting juice can help solve the growing problem of childhood obesity.
Set routine meal and snack times to predict when children will eat. For instance, breakfast before or at school, lunch at school, afternoon snack at home, and dinner at certain time. Omit snacking after dinner. This can lead to children not being hungry for breakfast. It is also important to monitor where foods are eaten. All foods should be eaten in the kitchen without the television on. No exceptions. Children should dictate how much they eat. If adults offer healthy foods, at routine times, and in pleasant surroundings, meal times should not be a struggle.
For other quick tips at a glance see below:
Help children understand when they are physically hungry or satisfied with meals:
- Don’t overly restrict foods. This leads to preoccupation with food and your child will feel punished.
Restricted diets should only be used when advised by a health care professional.
- Don’t use food as a reward.
- Don’t make your child clean his or her plate.
- Encourage your child to eat slowly. When we eat quickly our body thinks it needs more food to be satisfied.
Make sure your child eats a balanced healthy diet
· Aim for 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
· Reduce the fat. Choose low fat milk, 95% lean ground beef, remove visible fats from meat, and remove skin from poultry. Offer lower fat sweets like angel food cake, vanilla wafers, graham crackers, gingersnaps, and animal crackers.
· Offer sugary foods only in moderation. One sweet treat a day is okay.
· Eat healthy snacks: fresh fruit, mozzarella cheese sticks, low fat popcorn, 100 calorie pre-packaged snacks, applesauce, veggies with low fat dip, cheese and crackers.
· Watch portion sizes.
Eating out tips:
Breakfast:
English muffin, toast, or bagel instead of biscuit, muffin or doughnut
Choose Canadian bacon or ham instead of sausage or bacon
Order pancakes and skip the butter.
Order low fat milk instead of juice.
Lunch/Dinner:
Ask for mustard instead of mayonnaise. Choose low fat salad dressings.
Ask for sauces on the side.
Skip the cheese and mayo of burgers. Use catsup, mustard or barbeque.
Order low fat milk or water instead of a soda.
Stick to broiled items. If you choose fried foods only get one fried item.
Watch portion sizes.
Skip the bread and chips served before the meal.
Dee Ann Harwell, MS,RD,LDN and President of Dynamic Dietetics, Inc., is helping businesses and individuals acquire better health through nutrition by providing diverse nutriton consulting services for from all ages infants to geriatrics. She can be reached via email at: di8tician@aol.com.