Getting your Children to Eat Well
It is difficult to believe that what we feed our toddler today will
have a direct effect on their health 30, 40 or 50 years down the line.
As parents we aim to protect our children. When it comes to accidents,
we all know the danger zones. When it
comes to our children’s health, however, how many of us are fully aware
that diseases affecting our children as adults often originate in
childhood? The worrying fact, now true in Spain as in most other
Western countries, is that this generation of parents will be the first
to have a longer life span than their children. Judi Oshowole reveals
the hard facts about children’s health today, how fruits and
vegetables are the key to their well-being and how we can encourage
kids to eat them…
Evidence is now clearly irrefutable. Putting a high priority on good nutrition is one of the most important and responsible things we as parents can do to promote a lifetime of good health for our children. Study after study undertaken in the last 10 -15 years show that what we think of as adult illnesses, those we read of every day and that we may worry about for ourselves as we get older, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer, actually begin in early childhood.
The Bogalusa Heart Study, a continuing 30 year study of 14,000 children and young adults, the longest and most-detailed study of children anywhere in the world, shows that the path to heart disease begins in childhood.
“The message of the study is that coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension and heart disease all begin in childhood,” said Dr Gerald Berenson, a professor of Cardiology at the Tulane Centre for Cardiovascular Health, New Orleans. Investigators found that children as young as two were already consuming a high fat, high sodium diet, low in fruits, vegetables and fibre. One of the most startling and worrying findings is that pathological signs of heart disease are evident much earlier than was previously thought. Grossly visible fatty streaks are seen in the aortas of children aged 3 and in the coronary arteries by the age of 10. A recent study showed that 70% of 12 year-olds already have hardening of the arteries - all predictors for future heart disease. Dr Berenson says, “It all starts in childhood. There is a window of opportunity where parents can have a significant impact.”
As well as heart disease, Type II diabetes, which used to be known as adult-onset diabetes, as it was previously only seen in adults over the age of 40, is now increasing dramatically in children and adolescents. Dr William Sears, Paediatrician and consultant to Parenting magazine says, “Over 70% of disease is preventable through good nutrition.”
Yet while we think of diet and nutrition being important primarily for physical health and well-being, there is now more and more scientific evidence that good nutrition is just as important for the optimal mental development and functioning of our children.
“Everyone is aware that a lousy diet is bad for your physical health, but it has taken a lot longer for people to twig that the brain is also part of your body and is possibly the first place you would be likely to see an effect” says Dr Alex Richardson of Oxford University who, with other scientists, has carried out research on the effect of nutrition on dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.
Perhaps as parents we don’t realise that the brain is unable to store energy – it uses up 25% of the energy and 50% of the carbohydrates we eat each day and so needs continuous feeding with phytonutrients to replace what has been used and to keep it healthy and functioning properly.
Dr David Katz, head of Preventative medicine, Yale University says, “Children are more harmed by poor diet than by exposure to alcohol, drugs and tobacco combined.”
What is a “poor diet” and what is “good nutrition”? Over 4,000 studies worldwide have shown that a diet which is rich in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and grains is the key to lifelong good health and can help ward off the majority of modern degenerative diseases such as heart disease and stroke, diabetes, cancers and Alzheimer’s.
 The more scientists learn about the powerful impact the nutrients in fruits and vegetables have in protecting our bodies, the more the official recommendations go up. A few years ago the campaign was for us to aim to consume 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day. Now most health organisations and institutes are recommending 7 – 13 portions a day for adults and children – that is over 49 portions a week!
“The push to step up produce consumption is fuelled by a growing body of evidence that fruits and vegetables offer even more health benefits than previously understood.” (CDC). The increased recommendations are also because of the recognition that modern farming methods have stripped our foods of essential nutrients. A recent study showed that there is 75% less calcium in broccoli, 60% less iron in spinach, 80% less vitamins and minerals in apples than 50 years ago. In 1900 wheat was 90% protein; now it is only 9% - meaning you would have to eat 10 slices of bread to get the same nutrients you once got from one slice back then.
The bottom line is that the strongest determinant of lifelong health is a diet that includes a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The word variety is important here – concentrate as much as possible on fruits and vegetables that are vitamin-rich. In most cases, darker-colored fruits and vegetables like apricots, oranges, strawberries, broccoli, carrots, spinach and yams are a better source of nutrients than their lighter counterparts, such as cucumbers, celery and iceberg lettuce, or apples and pears, which are pale beneath their colored skins
But the challenge for us as parents is to get our children to develop a preference for them. Children seem to be born with a preference for sweet and salty foods but have to learn to like everything else. Like animals, they have a natural protective instinct to reject an unknown taste - our job is to help them learn to like and accept them.
Ideas to encourage healthy eating
When children reject or spit out a new food, this doesn’t reflect a dislike that cannot be changed. Tufts University nutritionist, Susan Roberts uses “a rule of 15”, suggesting we need to offer a food at least 15 times before a child will accept it, waiting anything from a few days to two weeks before offering it again.
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- Maintain a low-key approach – encourage just one bite and don’t react positively or negatively whether the child likes it or not.
- When a child refuses a food, the best strategy is to say, “That’s ok, I’ll eat it.”
- Keep fruit out where you can see it. Have some cut up into finger sized portions that children can help themselves to.
- Set an example. As parents try to eat try filling half your plate with vegetables or fruit at each meal.
- Have fruit washed and easily available. Cut up veggies and have them ready to eat.
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Use fruit for a sweet snack.
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Send fruits and vegetables as a snack in packed lunches.
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Serve fruit and vegetables as a snack at home.
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Serve salads first at dinnertime, when kids are hungriest.
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Try new fruits and vegetables – don’t assume your kids won’t like them.
The rewards are huge for children who establish healthy eating patterns at an early age. These children receive not only the essential nutrients needed for normal growth and good health during their youth but also significantly reduce their risk of several diseases during adulthood.
Judi Oshowole Copyright 2008
 Barcelona resident, Judi Oshowole is representative for Juice Plus+® 17 fruits, vegetables and grains in a capsule or in gummies!
Are your children eating the recommended 7 – 13 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables every day? Come and find out easy ways to achieve this! Date: Wednesday 16th July, Time: 10.30 am, Address: Via Laietana, 54 Ático 3. Tel: 93 319 9398.
Call to reserve your place, children welcome. Talks take place frequently. For further information and contact details please visit http://es.juiceplus.com/+jo29629x
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