Promoting Healthy Eating Habits
Our recent Early Childhood Parent Coffee featured a panel discussion about child nutrition, spurring a healthy ongoing conversation among parents. The speakers on the panel consisted of current Gillispie parents with backgrounds in nutrition, cooking, and treating eating disorders. A few key phrases that came up:
“You provide, they decide.”
“Don’t yuck my yum!”
“Food is neutral.”
Some interesting take-aways include the following tips:
- Include kids in the process of making a meal. Include them in grocery shopping, food preparation, and cooking.
- Use glass containers to store pantry items, taking away the brand messaging that can influence young eating habits.
- When introducing a new food, offer a small taste and include several familiar foods at the same time.
- Cook with broth (veggie or protein) instead of water to add nutrients to any dish. For example, cook pasta in chicken broth.
- Puree steamed cauliflower (drain after pureeing) and add to recipes such as sauces.
Many families go to a farmers market together on the weekends, allowing for kids to see and touch different foods. It is also a great opportunity to chat with the farmers and learn about how food is grown.
Here are some articles to learn more:
“Healthy Eating Habits”
https://parenting.nytimes.com/feeding/healthy-eating-habits
“How to Read Food Labels Without Being Tricked”
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-read-food-labels
“Top 10 Tips for Cooking With Kids”
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/top-10-tips-cooking-kids
Dr. Mindy Coates Smith
Director of Early Childhood
