Your children are what they eat
Young bodies grow fast. Everything is developing, growing changing and setting the stage for the rest of their lives… Sounds like a lot of pressure as a guardian to make sure children get good food.
I am not judging, but so discouraged to see a play date of a few moms and their kids out to lunch. The moms have salads and each child has chicken tender and fries. I have been in those peer pressure situations and chose the salad with my son who ate it. We usually did not get asked back to lunch dates, and it wasn’t because we ate with our mouth’s open.
I am not sure why people don’t value nutrition to a point that when their child has stomach aches, diarrhea, sore throats, headaches, a parent does not think about food choices and nutrition.
I think of children as the strong building that needs the perfect foundation. Junky cereals and white breaded sandwiches don’t provide a healthy body but puts kinks in the system. Maybe a precursor for adult diseases. Maybe we survived on junk cereals, but back then they had 4 ingredients, look now at the lines and lines of ingredients.
Weight gain, diabetes onset in younger people, the behavior starts early. The early years you may have to sneak vegetables in their meal. Even noodles can be cooked in a vegetable broth you made. Then the broth gets thicker until actually vegetables are recognizable.
At about age 3, you can talk more with children about just trying it. Be excited and thank them for just trying it. “What a big boy, most kids wouldn’t even try that. So cool” You don’t need a psychology degree to coax them with a gentle manipulation. Taking kids to farmers markets and letting them grow easy vegetables, fruits or herbs, is a great way to keep them grounded, enhance their knowledge, and build a beautiful healthy child.
