Are your kids as healthy as you want them to be? Do you come up with excuses like, “they just won’t eat that” or I can’t get them to eat that, or “My child is just a picky eater”.
While all of these may seem true to you, there are ways to get your kids to eat the right foods and forcing them is certainly not the answer.
Lets start with the phrase “finish your plate”. Children are much more intuitive to us in the sense that they know better than we do on when they are full.
Forcing a child to finish their plate is actually setting them up to do exactly what we now as adults are fighting against — overeating!
It may seem hard to deal with the fact that your child may want to eat again in an hour or not appreciate the large meal that you prepared, but teaching them to stick to their intuitive sense of feeling “full” will lead to much healthier eating habits down the road.
When the food on their plate is nutritious and whole they won’t need to eat again in an hour or so.
Now lets redefine “treats”. We’ve all grown up being given “treats” as an expression of love. When we’re sad, we get a treat. When we do well, we get a treat.
Rewards are a great way to reinforce good behaviour. Refined white sugar, on the other hand is not a good reward — and this is all too often included in these so-called “treats”.
Having recently interviewed Meredith Deasley, B.A., RHN, and author of The Resourceful Mother’s Secret to Healthy Kids I was reminded of all the symptoms many of our kids experience and their association with their diet.
From colic to diaper rash and add poor sleeping habits, tantrums, eczema, and behavioural issues. Many associated with the consumption of refined white sugar.
But other potential culprits related to various symptoms, as you can read in Meredith’s book includes dairy, gluten, eggs, corn, caffeine, eggs, peanuts, strawberries, yeast, shellfish and chemicals including additives, preservatives, and food dyes) among others.
In our interview, Meredith explains how the foods that your child are mostly addicted to are likely to be the very thing they are allergic or have a food sensitivity towards.
Meredith has a wealth of suggestions. Her main recommendation comes down to building the good bacteria in the gut. Unfortunately because the probiotic foods in our grocery store are pasteurized it may be necessary to supplement with a probiotic if you are not making any of your own fermented foods such as kombucha, kimchi, or kefir.
Next is to talk to your child like an adult. Ask them if they are willing to make some changes in order to feel better. You have to get them on board! And finally — make food they can’t resist that tastes great too!
It’s so important to raise our children to have good eating habits and avoid unwanted symptoms.
And as cliché as it may be, leading by example and continuously educating yourself is key to raising happy healthy kids!
To listen to the full interview with Meredith Deasley go to www.somethingtochewon.ca
Banana Mama Muffins
1 Cup Bananas, mashed, approx. 3 Bananas
¾ Cup Sucanat
1 Egg
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1 ½ Cups Spelt Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Sea Salt
½ Cup Chocolate or Carob Chips
Preheat oven to 350F. Mash Bananas. Add sucanat, egg and olive oil to bananas. Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together and add to moist ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Oil muffin tins with paper towel. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Kristin Fraser, BSc, is a registered holistic nutritionist and local freelance writer. Her column appears every second Wednesday. She can be reached at kristin_fraser@hotmail.com