RANT: Your Kids Will Eat What You Do

If you’ve ever had a 12 month old, you know they want what you have.  They want your phone, your keys, your coffee.  The same is true at meal time.  If you’re eating chips, they’ll want chips.  If you’re eating salad, they are 100% more likely to explore the texture of your salad, than if they’ve never seen you eating greens.

I’m not saying broccoli will be their favorite food –especially if they’ve already had ice cream. But, I am saying if you’re eating healthy foods, they’re more likely to grow up eating healthy foods.

When feeding your kids, the two most important things to remember are:

1. KEEP TRYING. Kids may spit out tomatoes the first 9 times they try them.  But if you don’t keep trying, they’ll never get the nutrition their little brains and bodies need.  It takes 10-20 exposures to adjust taste. (This is true for adults too!)  Often it’s the texture, not the taste, they are repelled by.  Seeing healthy foods over and over, makes them more familiar. And familiar = comfort. Just keep trying!
2. PACKAGED FOOD is devoid of nutrition and packed with harmful chemicals!  Packaged foods are made (in a factory) in mass to make money — not insure our kids’ health.  Food additives are linked to hyperactivity, tooth decay, childhood diabetes, obesity, learning disabilities, problems concentrating and depression. So do yourself and your kids a favor, make eating REAL foods a part of your family’s daily life.

 

Remember, your kids eat what you do. So eat how you should. Lots of plants, limit packages!