Right now, I am reading 'French Kids Eat Everything', for entertainment value since I am French. Prior to having a child, I had no idea that children ate so badly here (in the U.S.). So I have only read a couple of pages of the book so far, but I am guessing at what it will say:
- Don't let your children snack all day (past a year old, only one healthy snack mid-afternoon). I see kids snacking all the freaking time here. Seriously, no wonder they are not so hungry when they get to the table.... and it has to be bad for their metabolism, with insulin levels constantly high
- Don't serve dessert, except fruit, at home. Cake, cookies, one candy, etc. are for outside dining (provided you only dine out once a week)
- Do a decent job cooking vegetables and fish just right and well seasoned with fresh herbs and minimal fat. No one wants to eat overboiled vegetables and rubbery fish
- Present food as individuals, not 'groups'. For example, don't say 'eat your vegetables'. Say 'why don't you try the broccoli. I made it with fresh parsley and just a dab of olive oil'. Otherwise, 'vegetables' becomes a bad word that encompasses anything that doesn't look like a chicken nugget
- Introduce new and exotic food on a regular basis, for palate education. Talk about the food, how it was made, where it comes from, etc.
- Make fish and soy products 'go-to' sources of proteins (apart from milk). That means at the stage your child will eat pretty much everything (right after weaning), make them often (fatty fish is also good for the brain). Serve chicken, cheese, and especially beef only occasionally
- They can choose not to eat, but you are not a short-order cook, so repeat after me: 'the two choices are: take it or leave it'. They won't starve
OK, so now some new things I have learned from the book (or that I knew, but just at a subconscious level) :
- Children have to taste a food 10-15 times before they can truly decide whether they like it or not. And then you just assume that they will 'grow out' of their dislike, so offer it again at some point
- Food and healthy eating education is just as important as other critical skills (like reading and toilet training). Parents should simply never give up, for the sake of the child
- Children need to learn to eat properly (with forks and spoons) early (as toddlers) without playing with the food. Eating non-finger food with fingers is not an option. It is a matter of respect for the food and of course of general manners
- Food is not a reward because it spoils children's appetite for real food. It is not a pacifier, a distraction, a bribe, or a substitute for discipline
- Eating is almost always a social occasion, even within a family
- Food is not provided on demand, even for babies
- Parents are in charge of what is offered and when
- Give nice and interesting names to dishes, and make dishes reasonable attractive, it does make a difference
If you wonder what this may have to do with education, eating well and with good manners have everything to do with self-control and delayed gratification, both important to the education process. Also, poorly nourished children don't do as well in school.
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