Last night I posted from Safefood about the campaign to raise awareness about treats. The statistics are staggering about how many treats are no longer “treats” but given to children daily. I’m delighted to see it covered in most major morning radio shows this morning. The rise in childhood obesity has short term and lifelong health impacts, which we’ve discussed here before.
INDI-registered dietitian Orla Walsh on Newstalk Breakfast this morning summed it up nicely (and I paraphrase here):
“your child’s relationship with food is one of the most important relationships in their life”
[listen back: https://www.newstalk.com/…/rewarding-kids-food-treats]
2 great online resources that you can trust when it comes to looking for help with your child’s nutrition, from sensible advice to portion sizes:
1. www.safefood.eu, you can try starting at: https://www.safefood.eu/Start/Videos/Experts.aspx
2. https://www.indi.ie (Look under “Fact Sheets” for some great info on everything from understanding weight, food allergy, vegetarianism, getting enough fibre, children’s diets…)
Do you wonder how a child eats if mammy is a doctor? Pre-schooler T. loves treats as much as any child, and is quite fond of mock-thoughtfully remarking “I think maybe I need treat today…” There are lots of great ways to do it, and this is hardly perfect or definitive, but if you are looking for ideas to make some healthy changes here are steps have I taken to look after T.’s (and Baby C.’s) developing relationship with food:
1. Once a week I schedule a shop on a day off with the boys. I grant you that not every child will be cooperative in the grocery store. My children just happen to love going, and by no means do I think this is normal. I thought I would be efficient and start getting groceries delivered months ago — and there was meltdown. So, off we go. And we talk about what goes in the trolley…and what doesn’t. I include T. in choices where appropriate (“let’s pick out a veggie for your lunchbox this week. Would you like carrot sticks or cucumber slices?” or “what should we put in the fruit bowl this week at home for snacks?”) As they get older, teaching them how to read a label for things like additives, salt, and sugar will be a key life skill.
2. I never talk about weight or looks with food (though I am as conscious as any other mammy about avoiding weight gain). We do talk about nutritious food will make us strong and healthy and make us feel good. At 4, T. is able to understand very basics, like that too much sugar is bad for your teeth and — delights in yelling out things like this randomly in the yogurt aisle.
3. I plan meals in advance, and keep a recipe book with favourite go-tos. It’s an easy and common pitfall to get convenience foods that are less healthy if you are pressured or unprepared. I am a huge fan of the slow cooker!
4. No bribery, no substitutions. If one of the boys is dissatisfied with his meal, it is cheerfully removed, but no substitute is offered. (fussy eating and erratic appetite is just a toddler thing and usually best ignored)
5. “Treat foods” are allowed twice a week, and are still contingent on reasonable behaviour. With rare exception, treat food is not used as a reward/bribery.
6. Unsalted organic rice cakes and sippy-bottles of water in the change bag – always.
7. Mealtimes and snack times are routine.
8. T. is involved in helping prepare his lón for naíonra in the morning as well as “helping” with the cooking when I’m home. Baby C. “helps” as well, which to date has consisted of mostly of banging spoons and happily chewing on a raw garlic bulb.
9. We try to be conscious that healthy behaviour is modeled in the family. As with all aspects of parenting, “Do as I say not as I do” does not work for healthy eating. The boys’ grandmothers (mostly…) on board. Active lifestyle is normalised, such as regular outdoor play, weekend family walks or seeing Daddy play GAA. We eat healthy at family meals.
10. No juice. Water (I found XL Brita jug a great investment) and limited intake of full fat cow’s milk (12 oz/350ml of dairy/milk a day is usually plenty for toddlers and a daily milk intake over 480ml can cause other problems, such decreased appetite for other foods and constipation.)
So, what about those snacks? I give a choice (giving control to a toddler is a great tantrum diffuser). T. is thankfully outgrown his threenager years when yes/no questions are best avoided, but I still never ask him if he wants yogurt for a snack out of habit. . I phrase it: “Would you like yogurt or bagel for a snack?” I vary what’s on hand week-to-week, but in general, what are the favourite snacks in our home? Bonus points given for artistic interpretation, such as making face or bug shapes out of any of these, no matter how amateur, and is highly recommended (by T.)
-Mild cheese cubes and grapes (cut in quarters due to choking hazard)
-chopped fruit: mangoes, avocados, melon, pineapple…whatever is on special to keep it interesting
-half or quarter whole grain bagel with soft/cream cheese
-natural yogurt with or without fresh fruit
-rice cakes with or without 100% peanut butter (no additives/salt/sugar) and banana slices (sounds weird, I didn’t invent it, but T. loves it)
-slice of whole grain toast with sliced bananas
-carrot sticks, cucumber slices, quartered cherry tomatoes with or without hummous
– pitta and hummous
-apples slices or celery sticks with peanut butter (100% peanut butter, no additives/salt/sugar)
-wholegrain crackers with little fruit or small amount of cheese cubes
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