Nutrition Notes
By Ashley Chrisinger
I LOVE guiding parents and community organizations when it comes to feeding kids quality food and teaching them about nutrition. I also LOVE helping stressed out parents troubleshoot nutrition related problems for their kiddos. Kids are so vulnerable, and how we approach feeding and nutrition impacts their long-term relationship with food. I have three kids of my own, so I’ve put a lot of research and effort into understanding childhood nutrition for personal reasons.
My basic beliefs when it comes to feeding kids:
Kids should be offered fruits and/or veggies at every meal and snack.
Keep meal times positive. Avoid fights about what gets eaten and how much.
Kids should know where food comes from: how it’s grown, what it looks like at each phase of processing (whole veg vs peeled/chopped, animal to ground meat), and where you buy it: straight from the farm, farmers market, or grocery store.
Kids feel empowered and in control when they choose some of the foods at meal or snack time, and especially when they help prepare it.
If you don’t like the food choices your kid(s) make(s), you can only change you: the example you set, and the food environment you create: which foods are in the house and accessible, and what is served at meals.
** Picky eating **
Sometimes the reason kids don’t eat what you think they should is behavioral. They haven’t been exposed in the right way, they’re trying to gain control in your parent:child relationship, a friend or sibling yucked their yum and now they have to reset their expectations.
Sometimes the reason kids eat strangely is related to a harder-to-solve problem. Here are a few examples:
GERD - think acid-reflux. Yes, kids can get this.
Food allergy or intolerance
Sensory processing disorder
ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder) - a type of eating disorder
Asthma or other breathing difficulty
Tooth or gum pain/disease
Anxiety
Here are other childhood nutrition specialists I turn to for guidance: Jill Castle. She has a great website, regular blogs, a podcast, and books all on childhood nutrition. https://jillcastle.com/
And possibly the best: Ellyn Satter. She started her career as a registered dietitian, but moved on to psychotherapy. Her passion is the emotional side of food, feeding, and eating and it’s fascinating and important.https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/
NEXT – Books for Kids
Recommended Children's Books
Here is a short list of kids books I’ve found helpful for discussing various topics related to food and eating:
1
Food Preservation /
How We Store Energy
Blueberries for Sal
by Robert McCloskey
2
Trying New Food/
Eating a Variety of Food
Green Eggs and Ham
by Dr. Seuss
Bread and Jam for Frances
by Russell Hoban
A Bad Case of Stripes
by David Shannon
3
Food Journeys From Farm to Plate
Pancakes, Pancakes!
By Eric Carle
How Did That Get In My Lunchbox: The Story of Food
By Chris Butterworth
4
Mindful Eating
No Ordinary Apple
By: Sara Marlowe
NEXT – Kids in the Kitchen
Introducing Kids to the Kitchen
The start of our relationships with food is actually in utero - babies become familiar with flavors commonly consumed by mom. Then as infants they’re exposed to flavors in breast milk or formula, they see and smell the foods consumed around them. Finally they try their first solid foods which introduces various textures and new flavors.
As parents, it’s common to first think about our children’s relationship with food when we detect a problem like picky eating. It’s not too late! The first strategy I recommend is getting kids in the kitchen. No matter how old the child, there is a task they can take on in the kitchen that will grow their relationship with food.
Step 1
ADJUST YOUR MINDSET
You must throw any ideas of perfection out the window once you let your kids in the kitchen. Your new goals are to keep the experience positive, and keep your kids safe. There will be more mess, the product may not look as beautiful, but there will be other clean, perfect, child-free meals.
Step 2
CHOOSE A SIMPLE RECIPE
Vegetarian meals are nice for little kids because you don’t have to worry about them cross-contaminating (raw meat then veggies), or you could choose something with pre-cooked meat. Easy starter veggies: cucumbers, zucchini, mushroom, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, small potatoes (you may want to cut a flat side for them).
Step 3
ASSIGN A TASK
The best thing for kids to help with is vegetable prep. They can help wash the veggies, they can help tear lettuce for a salad, and if they’re not satisfied with those “baby tasks”, let them chop! Something to consider: give your kiddo proper training on how to safely use a knife no matter how old they are and no matter how sharp their knife is. Here are the options I use for my youngest (she’s 2)
1) plastic cheese knife, or 2) this “kids knife” which is cute, but very similar to any old cheese spreading knife that doesn’t have a sharp edge.
By the time my oldest son was 7, I was comfortable with him using a 6” chef knife.
Teach them the “bear claw” to tuck their finger tips under. Have them keep the tip of their knife on the cutting board and chop down with a rocking motion. Watch out for hard veggies that roll around while they’re chopping - try cutting a flat edge for them. Here’s a longer tutorial if you’re feeling nervous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTVAalOpJgQ
Results
More excitement at mealtime = willingness to eat what they helped prepare… even if it’s just a taste.
Their expectations are primed to enjoy the food. There’s so much more I could say about our expectations of foods, just know that when kids are allowed time to see, smell and touch their food, the tasting part is less surprising... in a good way.
Curious kids will taste what they’re chopping between chops - awesome exposure to the tastes of raw veggies! Mine even explored raw mushrooms.
It’s one less thing for you to do in the kitchen. These experience might start out rough—creating more work for you—but soon they’ll be speeding up your meal prep.
Kids create a mental image of what real food is: whole foods converted to ingredients converted into the meal on their plate. This is the image we want them to have.