Healthy foods and Nutrition
When you and your significant other are thinking about starting a family or a teacher entering the education field nutrition, and healthy eating is the least on their minds. Many of us just want health babies at home, or children entering our classrooms eager to learn. As a parent we never think about, what do we feed them when do we feed them, do we have time to feed them. As an educator we never think that we should worry about, did they have breakfast, do they have lunch, or I wonder if they will have a healthy dinner tonight. In this section of my blog I am going explain the importance of good nutrition and healthy eating in the early years, why adults should model good habits, and mention three healthy recipes we can make with and for our children.
Why is it important for good nutrition and
eating habits for all ages of development? The earlier you start a child on the
right path of eating healthy the easier it will be to sustain the habits. When
a child is born they depend on their mother to provide them with the nutrients
they need to grow, and develop whether it is from breast milk or formula. In the
book, Safety, Nutrition, and Health in early education by Cathie Robertson, she
states that it is important for infants to be breast feed for them to learn to
control their own eating pattern, and stop feeding when they are full. Many
parents and care givers bottle feed, to regulate the amount of food the baby is
eating, and don't pay any attention to the babies cues of saying I'm full. If
the baby and parent/caregiver can learn how to portion control at this early
age, they would not have any problem with their weight as they grow. As the
child, through these age developmental stages, it becomes more apparent that we
need to teach the children good eating habits. Why is good nutrition and
healthy eating habits important for preschoolers? Just as in infants and
toddlers, it is important for the child to learn when he or she is hungry or
full. I was at my Boyfriend's sister
house over the holidays, she has two young preschoolers who both were hungry,
so we sat down to have dinner, they didn't eat much and turned to their parents
and asked to be excused, she asked why and without skipping a beat they both
said we are full. Two minutes later, they came back and said “can we have a
cookie?” I could not believe what I just saw, but she gave in and gave them a
cookie. What do parents do? Do you give in and give them what they ask for or
do you make them go back to the table and finish eating their dinner or whatever
meal that they are eating? This is a hard question to answer because you don't
want to tell a child they can't eat but you want them to eat healthy foods.
Also at this age you can have the child help you make the meals and serve them
too. These are the most influential years and you hope that what you have
taught them will empower them to make the healthy choices. The next age stage
that good healthy eating habits are important for our school age children.
These years it is most important because they are not with us 8 plus hours, and
while they are not with them we hope they make the best food choice. Why is
good eating and nutrition important for school agers? Healthy eating is
important for school age children because they are more active then the younger
children. Many at this age are on the go most of their day and need more
nutrients for their body to stay healthy. These are some of the reasons why
healthy eating habits are important for each age developmental stage.
Why is Modeling Good Eating Habits important?
How can we model healthy eating
habits? There are many ways we as adults could model good healthy eating habits
for our children in our care. A few ways we can do this is by family style
dining, the children help with the preparation and making of the meals, talking
to them about the USDA guidelines of the MY PLATE, also known as the food
pyramid, taking them to the grocery, helping plan the menu for the week, and
planting a home garden.
At my childcare center we provide all of the
meals the children eat from breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack which all of
our meals follow the USDA My Plate guidelines. Many of the childcare providers
only provide a morning snack and afternoon snack, and the parents provide the
lunches, but the snacks that they provide maybe cookies and juices, nothing
healthy. What we also do is each meal time we use what we call family style dining.
This is where we have a set time to all sit down and eat at the same time,
including the teachers. We also allow the children to serve themselves, with a
certain size scoop depending on the age of the child. This helps them learn
portion control, and to eat until they feel full and not have to clear their
plate.
Another way we can model healthy eating habits, is to teach the children about the USDA guidelines of the My Plate or food pyramid, and the importance of eating certain foods. I know with all of our busy lives, we eat a lot of processed foods, and we don't eat the allotted servings of dairy, meats/ protein, grain, veggies, and fruit. How much and what do you consume on a daily basis? I bet no one really can say that they know for sure how much they eat of something and what they eat that day. I challenge you to write down with the serving amounts, everything you put in your mouth, do not forget to add the condiments, and cooking oils. You would be surprised what you would find out about what you choose to eat. An example of what my childcare center serves the children on any given day would be....
Monday week 1
Breakfast
8 oz Milk
3/4 cup of Cereal, (Toasty
O's, cornflakes, Chex, kiks, or rice krispies)
1 to 2 oz of fruit
Lunch
1
oz chicken
2
oz brown rice
Cream
of chicken soup (used as gravy)
2
oz of vegetables
2
oz of fruit
8
oz milk
PM snack
Cheese
crackers
8
oz of 100% Apple Juice or Water
We serve many
different items for each meal; our protein could be beans, beef, turkey, fish
or chicken, and rotate the menus for 5 weeks. Many of us think we have picky
eaters but I have been surprised when preparing these meals I always think, “What
kid would eat this, and what was my company's nutritionist thinking?”, and the
children end up eating and loving it.
Another way we can model good eating
habits for our children, at home or at school is letting them feel a part of
the process of making the healthy meal. Maybe an older child could plan, help
prep for the meal, read a recipe, and measure out all of the ingredients. A
younger child could dump per-measured ingredients, or stir the things. If the
children are involved in making the healthy meal, the more they are going to
want to try it. They also learn how to read a recipe, correctly measure
ingredients, and work together to make the meal for the family or class. Below
I have included three healthy child friendly meal ideas and recipes.
Three Healthy Recipes for Children and Adults
I have not tried two of
the following healthy meal recipes with my international cooking club at my
child care facility yet, but they look and sound so good. The recipes I chose
to include in my blog are the breakfast taco, chicken salad in a pita pocket,
and zucchini bread.
Breakfast
or Brunch
Breakfast
Taco
Total time to make: 15
minutes
Serving size 1
per serving: 153
calories; 2 g fat; 15 g carbs; 17 g protein; 0 g fiber
Ingredients
2 corn tortillas
1 tablespoon salsa
2 tablespoons shredded
reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup liquid egg
substitute, such as Egg Beaters
Preparation
1.Top tortillas with salsa
and cheese. Heat in the microwave until the cheese is melted, about 30 seconds.
2.Meanwhile coat a small
nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium heat; add egg substitute
and cook, stirring, until the eggs are cooked through, about 90 seconds. Divide
the scrambled egg between the tacos.
Lunch
Chicken Salad Pita Pocket
Total time in making: 15 minutes
Serving size 4
Nutritional facts per serving:
depends on what ingredients you use.
Ingredients
8 oz. Chicken diced (Purdue
chicken cut work)
1 cup chopped celery
1 to 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
(depends on how wet you want you chicken mixture)
Salt and pepper (add to
taste)
2 pita pocket bread
4 tomato slices
4 Roman Lettuce leaves
Preparation
1.
dice the chicken, and celery
2.
combine chicken, celery, and mayonnaise in a bowl, and mix
together
3.
Add seasoning of choose, salt and pepper, old bay, etc...
4.
Put chicken mixture in pita pocket with lettuce and tomato and
enjoy.
The My Plate guidelines met with
this recipe are the protein, grain, and vegetable. You can add fruit like
grapes, and dairy like a Greek yogurt dressing instead of mayo to meet all of
the guidelines for one meal. I have found many different chicken salad recipes
online, and they all sound good. My friend and I made chicken salad for a
bridal shower and added old bay seasoning for flavor and it was so good.
Zucchini
Bread
Total time 1 hour 10
minutes
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup oil
2 cups zucchini, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup oil
2 cups zucchini, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
Optional
additions
1
cup Nuts
1
cup chocolate chips
1
cup shredded carrots
Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 Combine all ingredients.
3 Pour into two greased loaf pans.
4 Bake for one hour.
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 Combine all ingredients.
3 Pour into two greased loaf pans.
4 Bake for one hour.
My school
age children this past summer grew zucchini in our school garden and made this
recipe at least once a week the entire summer. We would change it up and add
different optional ingredients, except nuts due to allergies.
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