I think getting your children involved is definitely a big help. I know I was never involved in cooking when I was young and it took me years to learn. It’s a treat but my daughter could make pancakes from scratch before she started school. She now looks forward to learning how to cook other foods, and understands what goes into what she eats. This week it’s Indian food.
Absolutely yes.
Mine are still young (2 and 4), so I can’t make any comments on long term effectiveness yet, but I’ll contribute my experience so far.
Firstly, me and the missus have never fed the kids “sweets” and as such, they won’t eat it now, even when offered. For the non-British audience, that’s anything that’s just sugar.
In the same way that pwn said above, we make sure protein is eaten at every meal. Easier said than done, we have one who will pretty much only eat veg by choice, one who will pretty much only eat carbs.
We eat off plates, at the table, for evening meals, and a similar, slightly less formal set up for lunches. We also eat at the same time every day. On a slight tangent, I cannot recommend set routines highly enough for parenting young kids.
We make sure that the kids only see us eating or drinking things that we would want them to eat. This is partly a role modelling thing, but also because we anticipate them wanting to eat off our plate. They are far, far more likely to try new food off our plates than off their own. That’s our way to get them to try new stuff.
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I went into parenting convinced my children would be eating top quality nutrients.
Sweets only given out on extra special occasions. Like their 21st birthday
What the fuck was I thinking.
Sometimes it gets to the point where you’re satisfied that they’ve actually ate something. Mealtimes with toddlers are stressful beyond belief.
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I’m fortunate that my missus is a dental nurse so is extra strict about fizzy drinks.
Our 3 are banned from going near them.
In my case, it was just lemonade. Didn’t touch the fizzy stuff for a LONG while, and at that point was too far gone. Although we were a diet soda household, so that was helpful.
Google Irn Bru
Where I come from, babies used to be given this instead of milk.
Hence our shocking obesity rates
I think Scotland is the only country in the world where Coca Cola isn’t the number one selling soda drink
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It’s made from girders
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I’ve heard of it. We have “Mountain Dew Mouth” here in the states. Similar issue. See it more in the south.
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Several points from a father of four:
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If you feed your children crap, they’ll crave that same food in adulthood. Also, if your kids are fat, you’re needlessly further complicating their teens and adulthood - from social circles they’ll hang out it to prospective partners later in life.
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Strive as much as possible to eat the same food your kids are eating and vice versa. If Dad eats separate stuff from his Tupperware, then healthy eating is a weird thing he does because he lift weights, and not a yardstick for “normal” eating that your kids will compare everything to later in life.
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Start young. Don’t be a zealot about this, but start feeding your kids veggies as early as possible to accustom their taste buds. My kids are asking for second servings of beetroot to my perpetual amazement
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Involve your kids in food preparation and cooking. The kids want to eat something sweet? Then make a cake together - it’s bound to have three or four times less sugar that store candy. Focus on desserts with fruit and cottage cheese.
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Make sure they’re getting lots of protein (duh). The difference will be easily visible on the door notches marking their height.
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Slow cooker. As Chris Shugart wrote, a slow cooker is excellent for feeding your kids a lot of otherwise unpalatable veggies (I’m talking about you, broccoli) and lean protein.
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I’ve got a 3 and 1.5 year old. The one thing kids will do is challenge every preconceived notion you have about parenting. My daughter eats chicken nuggets, fries, spagettios, mac and cheese, the usually toddler crap. My son will eat whatever you put in front of him. We started both kids on nothing but fruits, vegetables and lean meats but they have their own personalities and pickiness. Milk and water only. Juice is a rare treat.
As long as they are healthy and at a normal weight, whatever. More than anything they eat when they’re hungry. We don’t force them to eat.
This is a other good point and something I see with my kids. They will be hungry throughout the day and always asking for food but when I comes to dinner time they aren’t hungry. @dagill2 talked about routine and this is something I also agree with. By having a routine around snack times and meal times very early on, it can help control the constant want (maybe not need) to snack that kids have. It also helps set them up for when they do to school, where they will have set break and meal times.
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I’m going to drop some stuff as I encountered it…
Helping to unpack and put away shopping. I don’t know if this helps or not but as a kid I never put any groceries away. The only time I went near the stuff was when my parents got home, I’d scavenge through bags, finding the treats then go off with them.
Pretty asshole behaviour but I still do this occasionally, it just looks a bit different - I have to actively fight the urge to take something out of bags and eat it during the drive home.
My theory is if I can get them in the habit of doing this they wont copy my asshole behaviour and at least put things away before gorging haha
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