Kids - Where is the balance between what is right and what is convenient in that phenomena called "FOOD HABITS"

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Good Food Habits, an inculcation right from childhood yet can learnt or unlearnt at any point in life. But chances are that the habits that one learns at a tender age are soaked up faster & could be engulfed in permanance.

We as parents are synonymous with "responsibility". The resposibility to raise our kids right, the responsibility to choose the right school, the responsibilty to keep them safe, secure and happy, so the resposibility to feed them right. Food, one of the most important factors that potentiate their health & wellness is a complex subject today. It's true, more the research, more is the spread of knowledge and even more is the need to filter the right information.

SO what is it that we need to pay key attention to to make sure that are kids stand the best chances of a healthier lifestyle in future? No guarantees, cause unpredictable as they are they could dump your efforts like a piece of hot potato, but the following points sure will serve as strong guidelines in teaching your children the essentials of good nutrition.

• "Eat everything on your plate" Syndrome - If you are one such parent who believes this is one habit that you have managed to teach your child, you definitely don't deserve a star on your shoulder. What do you do when you try something you dont like? avoid it like the plague the next time it crosses your path? Well kids aren't like that. They are very flexible and their mind is ever on the look out for something new to explore....which is a good thing. So today you may hav offered your daughter broccoli and she may have rejected it. If you do not insist that she finish it anyway there are all chances that she may try it the next time you offer it to her. But if you do persist on a clean plate, the fear of having to finish broccoli the next time will prevent her from experimenting with it again. Children take anywhere between 8-12 turns of repeat offerings of a new food before they accept it. So dont force, just keep offering a particular food at regular intervals and there are all chances that your child will develop a tatse for most of the healthy things you offer. Teach your child the importance of not wasting food, he will surely pick it up as he grows.

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• The colour palate - Compare your child's diet to multicoloured dynamic, vibrant painting. More the variety of colours in your selection of fruits and veggies more are trhe chances that your child is receiving important vitamins and minerals required for growth, focus & mindfunction.

                                                                  
          Yellow & orange colours - Apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, mangoes, oranges, papayas,
          peaches, sweetcorn, sweet potatoes, etc.
          Red colours (cherries, radishes, strawberries, red peppers,red grapes, red onions, watermelon, etc)
          Green colours (spinach, methi, broccoli, beans, green cabbage, lettuce, okra, peas, gourds,
          capsicum, pears, guava)
          Nightshade colours (brinjal, blueberries, plums, purple grapes, pomogranetes, purple cabbage,
          prunes, raisins, etc)
          White colours (Bananas, cauliflower, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, etc)

• "Dining table to the TV"syndrome. Reverse it today. The world is running...FAST. And we are running too to keep pace, we are teaching our kids to run too, to compete, to accomplish. In this rut we forget to spend time as a family. The dining table is a mere piece of decoration or a spae to dwell on homework. Eat atleast one meal with your whole family, which is probably dinner or breakfast. Here is where

         1) a family can bond
         2) parents can influence kids to eat better. Kids learn from what they see.
         3) kids and adults alike can appreciate the taste of food and decide what they like
         4) kids can even decide what they could learn to like under parental influence.
        So many reasons to gravitate away from the TV and eat with your family...the traditional way is the right
        way sometimes!

• Let children experiment with you & coooking - I have heard even good cooks say "I hate eating my own food". The fact is contradictory. What we probably mean is that we would love the to save ouselves the trouble. But once made, we'd love to devour our own food! After all we creatures of vanity! In a more subtle but even more probable way, this stands true for kids too. Pick a vegetable you want your child to try....and involve him in cooking it in a way he'd find most palatable and easy  to make. e.g veggies with cheese, steamed & buttered corn, creamy soup, veggy cheese sandwiches, etc. But be very careful, children can get experimental and dangerous in the kitchen.So never leave them alone and prefer minimal use of the flame. Wear only cottons.
• Kids do not need oodles of fat. You are doing them only harm by pouring on ghee, butter and cream over their foods. They fat they put on as a child is what will probably decide their body type in the future. You want kids to thank you for developing their good food palate, not fatten it!! Fat just makes you fat not grow as opposed to poula belief.
• Substitution is welcome - All kids cannot and will not like everything...just like YOU. If he doesn't like chapati, whole wheat bread is fine. If your child does not like milk, try yoghurt or cheese or even soya milk. Use the colour wheel to substitute fruits and veggies of your child's choice. He MUST eat from all the colour categories, but need not eat EVERYTHING ON THE FOOD COLOUR WHEEL.
•  Encourage drinking water, lots of it. Keep an alarm if you have to and keep offering it to them or reminding them of it.
• What they eat is more important than the quantity. Kids know how much they need, atleast most of the time, so give them that space and choice. If you truly believe they need more food, offer small helpings at regular intervals. Again this may be possible only with smaller kids or when kids are back from school & activities.
• Last but not the least, Don't avoid JUNK, MODERATE IT. Curiosity never allows us to take no for an answer and so it is with kids. Let your children try anything, but outline their limits & define your decision to stand by it. It is best they taste even the worst with you rather than with peers or at another house.

The points above are a synopsis of my experience with little clients and their parents, expect differences from child to child cause your little one is unique in his/her choices & reactions. Work around them but with PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE. Nothing else can give you better results