Oghomwen (Owen) Jones
When we eat unintentionally for sustained periods, we often eventually stifle our health. Parents the best time to inculcate healthy lifestyle habits in your children is in infancy.
Children are The Lord’s gift to us.
Psalm 127:3 GNT
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing.
They are gifts that we should nurture. As long as we live we must eat. Let us endeavour to teach our children to eat healthily by introducing them to a wide variety of healthy foods from an early age. Are you doing that?
Many parents are so busy and do not pay adequate attention to the foods eaten by their families. We must not let the ubiquitousness of overly processed foods stop us from being mindful about how we feed our children. Let’s acquaint them with healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, lean meats, whole grains, nuts and seeds early in life.
Many food giants have gone to great efforts to produce various snacks and foods that have absolutely no nutritional value. They spend stupendous amounts of money in Research and Development costs, to determine the right proportions, of unhealthy ingredients, required to get children hooked. These ingredients are typically salt, various processed sugars, trans fats etc. They reinforce this by spending colossal amounts of additional money on advertising. These adverts are enticing and cause children to know these products and eagerly reach out for them in grocery stores. It’s all a very calculated move by these food manufacturers, with the end game of getting our children wanting more of these unhealthy foods.
We must intentionally feed our children with a wide variety of the healthy nutrient dense foods that God has graciously blessed us with. Make it a fun experience, by getting children involved in the food preparation process…
It is also a good idea to not let children, spend too much unsupervised time watching TV. That way they don’t get to know and eagerly look for the processed foods advertised on TV, in the grocery store.
The building block of a child’s wellness should begin in infancy, before they are a year old. At this young age, the introduction of a wide variety of healthy foods can be achieved by feeding them puréed foods.
It is much easier to introduce children to a wide variety of foods when they are very young. The French have mastered this, and so it is common place to see toddlers in France, being taught at school to sit and eat up to four courses. Teach them young and they are likely to remain that way.
For parents who are not adventurous with food, it may be difficult encouraging children by example, to try a wide variety of foods but you must try nonetheless. I know a lady who did not eat eggs but tried hard not to pass that dislike of eggs to her daughter. She introduced her to eggs as an infant and managed to get her eating and enjoying eggs.
Children who are adventurous with food are likely to grow up to be good eaters, who enjoy a wide variety of foods. Let’s teach our children to be adventurous by introducing them early to a wide variety of healthy foods.
It is wonderful to watch a child who is willing to try new foods. In my opinion, it is quite sophisticated.
I discuss in my book ‘Moderation Is Key’ this and much more. It’s available on Amazon in soft and hard back, kindle and audio formats.
