Modeling Healthy Eating Patterns for Your Little Ones
Posted: Saturday, October 25, 2008
by Christine Steendahl
Dine Without Whine
Nutritious eating habits are generally formed long before kids start to select their own foods. Kids take one the eating habits of their role models. Parents and child care providers are the first role models that children have contact with.
Kids are awesome observers. When kids watch what is going on in the kitchen, they can construct an entire dialogue with their invisible friend on how to fry french fries or make a salad.
As kids go from from bottles to bacon, they start developing eating habits that follow them throughout their lives. Nutritious eating patterns that are started at a very early age will follow them through adulthood.
Since it is documented that eating healthy can prevent serious illness, it is vital that caregivers start giving a carrot stick or an apple for a fun snack rather than a sugar filled treat. Kids eat what they see grown-ups consuming.
Parents do not notice the major influence that they have over what their kids learn to eat. Following the eating patterns of children, research confirmed that the attitudes about food are almost as genetic as the color of their eyes.
This fact puts a lot of stress on parents.
But understanding the far reaching implications of this study will result in healthier kids and healthier parents.
Parents can relate to the fact that they associate both positive and negative memories with food. When kids are involved in fun activities, they tend to be snacking on junk food. The food offered at the park is all about hotdogs, ice cream and sugary snacks.
The smell of Grandma's cookies baking in the oven might bring back feelings of love and security. While the smell of vegetables cooking might invoke a negative memory of having to finish their plate of vegetables before getting dessert.
Bribing a little one to eat healthy is a short term strategy that will almost always backfire.
"These contingency strategies are effective in the short run; they elicit the correct response, says Dr. Fisher, Ph.D, assistnant profession of Pediatrics at Baylor College of medicine. In a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Dr Fisher made a direct link to the eating patterns of children and their parents.
Dr. Fisher and her researchers made some startling discoveries surrounding the eating patterns of kids. The children of parents who ate lots of fruits and vegetables in turn had kids who also ate the same types of foods. Whereas, parents who only allowed healthy consumption but led an unhealthy eating lifestyle, had kids who ate low amounts of fruits and vegetables.
Kids will respect and react to the power of influence. Because healthy eating patterns are as important for parents as it for the children, the commitment to eating healthier will be easy.
The moral of the study is that if you want your kids to follow healthy eating habits, the general rule is you must set an example - don't just tell them.
---------- For more excellent kid friendly tricks log onto http://www.kidapprovedmeals.com
This Article has been viewed 134 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.