Teaching kids to eat real food?
February 19, 2008
I have just received this lovely invitation from Eileen Dolbeare to track a 30-day experiment (she calls it Fresh Mouth) that she is running for her three junk-food loving boys, ages 4 to 6. She says: “We’re an average American family trying to eat better and enjoy it more. We’ll convince our three little kids that fresh food is about pleasure, rituals and family - and not about red dye #40, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils.” You can track her blog, watch the progress of the experiment, and cheer her on.
[…] Teaching kids to eat real food? I have just received this lovely invitation from Eileen Dolbeare to track a 30-day experiment (she calls it Fresh Mouth) that she is running for her three junk-food loving boys, ages 4 to 6. She says: “We’re an average American family … […]
Pingback by Teaching on The Finance World For News and Information Around The World On Finance » Teaching kids to eat real food? — February 19, 2008 @ 4:09 pm
Great going - good luck - can’t wait to see the healthy results.
Grandpa
Comment by Michael Riley — February 19, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
It’s great that they are trying to teach their kids awareness of real food, where it comes from, how it’s prepared, and so forth.
But I have to tell you, when I read their list of allowed foods and that sugar was not only on it, but at the top, I kind of rolled my eyes.
Especially after reading this on one of the early posts: “We’ve decided to do an experiment and teach the kids about healthy eating and real, whole food as a way of life and not as a means to scoring sugar.”
And then on day 1 she rewards the kids with chocolate chip cookies! Why not reward them with a non-food (and non-sugar) item like their favorite video or book? Isn’t she working against her own purposes?
Comment by Migraineur — February 19, 2008 @ 5:32 pm
That’s an interesting, valid point. We certainly don’t want to get in the vicious circle again of rewarding good, wholesome eating with sugar.
The cookies were a means to show them that the experiment didn’t exclude things they did like to eat. We didn’t want to go too cold turkey and completely taint the tenor of the experience. They were whole wheat, too!
I will say our consumption of dessert and sugar in general - even after only three days - has been radically reduced. We’d habituated serving dessert after nearly every dinner (and sometimes even lunch) which is something neither my husband nor I grew up doing. Who knows where this came from?
Sugar is on the “in” list for certain. But now it’s more about balance. Maybe Phase II of Fresh Mouth will tackle taking sugar completely out!
Thanks for the feedback and any more suggestions are gladly welcome.
Yours,
Eileen Dolbeare
Comment by Eileen Dolbeare — February 19, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
For other families who have childlren younger than this family, my sisters started the healthy food choices from day one. Those children are now teens and they still eat healthy by choice now. When they come to visit me, they really do select the fresh fruits and veggies and low fat dairy and don’t have any interest in chips, cookies, candies. I even tried to tempt them with junk food, and they rolled their eyes and said they didn’t like the stuff. I think parents could save themselves a lot of this high drama if they just started feeding the kids healthy from the start, and served as consistent role models.
Comment by Sheila — February 20, 2008 @ 8:37 pm
Eileen - I applaud your effort to get your kids on track at any point! They’re still young. I mean, in a perfect world, it would be great if kids didn’t have boogars, but if your life is as hectic as mine, heck! Sometimes the snot sits.
You do what you can when you can. Period.
Comment by Shelley — February 21, 2008 @ 7:24 pm
It seems now junk-food loving boys more than before
Comment by 络龙医搜 — February 26, 2008 @ 7:34 am