Thu, Nov-29-12, 01:45
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Stop food-pandering to your kids
Quote:
From The Times
London, UK
29 November, 2012
The Core: stop food-pandering to your kids
Hiding vegetables and pandering to fussy children is setting them up for a fall, says Amanda Ursell
A rather strange little bit of research caught my eye this week. In a study published in the Public Health Nutrition Journal, researchers from Cornell University in the USA showed that home cooks who served their families meals that contained vegetables were considered to be more ‘thoughtful’ and the meals they produced were rated as more ‘loving’, ‘tasty’ and ‘complete’.
The research led to speculation by food marketing expert, Brain Wansick, of Cornell University, that vegetables need something of a rebranding. Selling them to your family on their nutritional credentials might not be enough, he said, maybe we need to think about vegetables as a meal ‘enhancement.’
It seems odd to me, this idea that we have to ‘sell’ our families on the idea of eating vegetables. In my house my kids eat what I make and that’s the end of the conversation. I’m not in the business of bargaining with them over carrots and celery.
This research got me thinking about one of my other food hobby-horses - the lengths some parents go to in order to ‘hide’ vegetables in their child’s food.
It’s a growing trend - the notion that we should sneak vegetables into our kids and it really bothers me. While there is no harm in popping the likes of tomatoes, mushrooms and onions into composite dishes like Bolognese or lasagne, don’t make a rod for your own back by camouflaging all the healthy stuff.
Once you set off down the ‘hidden veg’ track it is hard to U-turn and it doesn’t teach children anything about how to be healthy as adults. If you don’t familiarise them with the real thing, how will they know they need it? Who will be disguising the carrots when they’re suddenly 30 years-old with a raging vitamin deficiency?
My advice is not to start hiding veg, bargaining for the consumption of veg or ‘selling’ anyone on the idea of veg in the first place. It just isn’t necessary. It can take a while for toddlers and children to accept new veg on their plate, but if you lead by example and keep at it, they almost always follow suit. It’s just a matter of patience and persistence.
And while I’m on the subject of nooses for your own necks, how about those of you who are more or less running ‘canteens’ in your own kitchens?
It drives me mad seeing parents running after their children like they’re operating a fine dining restaurant, preparing one meal for Johnny, another for Katey and a third for the parents. It’s ridiculous. I haven’t the time or imagination, let alone the money to do this. It doesn’t serve any useful purpose and at worst, you’ll end up raising some very spoiled kids.
I was chatting with Justin King, the CEO of Sainsbury’s, earlier this week. According to King, to keep hold of a tight budget more and more food shoppers are re-embracing shopping lists, with the idea of producing daily meal plans for the week and daily meals that everyone in the family can eat.
I was delighted to hear this and hope it is a sign of things to come. Not only is streamlining family meals a million times more time efficient for the cook, it is probably going to encourage more time spent around the table eating together and it’s a good way to help your kids accept what’s on their plates - even if it’s veggies.
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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/healt...icle3614245.ece |
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