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February
26, 2004
Prairie
Fare: Healthy Eating is Kid Stuff
By
Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service
I was upstairs when
I heard my five-year-old daughter yell, “Mine!” and my eight-year-old
son reply, “No, mine!”
As the voices grew
louder and louder, I thought I’d better intervene before bandages
were needed.
“Oh, they’re
obviously squabbling over the last piece of broccoli,” I thought
with a laugh.
Actually, there wasn’t
even a “last piece” of candy involved.
When my seven-month-old
baby started squealing loudly, I ran the rest of the way down the steps.
No, this war didn’t involve candy, chips or any other treat.
The older kids each
had one end of our baby and were pulling in opposite directions.
After I pried our
baby loose, my son said with great approval, “She’s pretty
tough.” Then the sibling rivals argued about who would feed her
cereal.
As we introduce new
foods into our baby’s diet, we’re all learning many things
in the process. Getting kids to like, or at least consume, nutritious
food can be a challenge, but it’s worth the effort. Healthy habits
– and attitudes toward food – begin early and can last a lifetime.
Here are some tips
for parents, grandparents and anyone who feeds children at least on occasion.
They’re adapted from the National Dairy Council and designed to
help get kids of all ages to try new foods.
- Offer one new food
at a time, and give advance notice of its taste (sweet, sour, salty).
- Give the child
the choice of how much to taste. Maybe a fraction of a spoonful is realistic
to one child, while a half-cup may work for another.
- Some children
will be more apt to taste a new food if they have the option of not
swallowing it. Provide a napkin and some advance training.
- Be patient and
don’t give up. Research has shown that it may take 10 offers of
the same food before a child will try it.
- Peers make a difference.
If a child’s friend or sibling is a good “taster,”
have them sit together and see what happens.
- Always serve a
“new” food with familiar foods. New foods don’t seem
quite so novel when they’re surrounded by favorites.
- Entice kids with
foods’ appearances and textures. Bright colors and contrasting
textures add interest and visual appeal to a meal.
- Invite kids into
the kitchen to help with food preparation. They’re more likely
to try foods they help prepare. Along the same lines, consider gardening
with children. They’re more likely to try fruits and vegetables
they help grow.
- Keep mealtimes
calm. Don’t force children to eat a new food. Let them decide
how much to eat. Recognizing “signals” of hunger and satiety
can have lifetime benefits for weight management.
- Offer a variety
of foods from all the groups of the Food Guide Pyramid. Eating a variety
of foods is the key to good health.
- Read stories about
food from children’s literature. They may try the foods that are
introduced in the story.
Here’s a tasty
snack that children can help prepare. They just might share with adults,
too.
Banana Freezer Pops
2 ripe medium bananas
1 can (6 oz) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 cup water
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
10 (3 oz) paper or plastic cups
10 wooden sticks
Aluminum foil
Peel bananas; break
into chunks. Place in food processor or blender. Add orange juice, water,
honey and vanilla; process until smooth. Pour banana mixture evenly
into cups. Cover tops of each cup with small piece of aluminum foil.
Insert wooden stick through center of foil into banana mixture. Place
cups on tray; freeze until firm, about 3 hours. To serve, remove foil;
tear off paper cups or slide out of plastic cups.
Makes 10 pops. Each
pop has 56 calories, less than 1g fat and 13.8g carbohydrates.
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Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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