94% of children don't eat enough vegetables
It broke my heart to read that 94% of Australian children are not meeting their daily requirements of vegetable intake. Vegetables are fundamental in fuelling the body with good nutrients. It really concerns me, because I know this is impacting their health long term, not to mention their mood, weight, immune systems, energy levels, gut health, the ability to concentrate, focus and retain information…
This topic is a passion of mine because I believe that kids know what they need - however it is so important to have these conversations about food. Kids are often forced to eat veggies but they don’t understand why so then it becomes a power struggle. Start by having a different conversation with them, and then allow them to make a choice.
If you're tearing your hair out trying to get the kids to eat more vegetables, then try this approach. Consider the way you are talking to your kids about food.
“Our bodies are POWERFUL!”
We talk to the kids a lot about how powerful their bodies are. How amazing it is that they breathe, they digest food, their heart pumps blood around the body, how we can heal cuts or broken skin, how we excrete waste through our poo (the boys love that one) - all without us having to think about it, it just happens automatically.
“LET’S Fuel your body”
If we want to be powerful, strong, energised, and happy, we need to properly fuel our bodies with loads of nutrients. Foods show us their nutrient levels through their colour, so we need to eat the rainbow to give our bodies everything they need. We talk about foods that “dial-up your power” and “sometimes foods”. We avoid talking about food in terms of ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
3. “Protein is a building blocK”We ask the kids to imagine their bodies as a house. We talk about protein as the building blocks of our house and we must include it in every meal. We talk about which foods are full of protein (like chicken, eggs, fish, nuts and hummus) and we encourage them to eat protein in every meal, especially breakfast as it sets them up for the day.
We talk about how the ‘sometimes’ foods can dial-down our power, so we don’t eat them every day. My kids love Maccas, lemonade, lollies, birthday cake and they eat it all. I don’t stop them, because I don’t believe in the restriction. I see so many patients who were restricted growing up and now as adults, they binge on all the things that were contraband.
Some other tips are:
⁃ when introducing solids, start on real food (anything packaged will give them a taste for processed foods)
⁃ Start them on bone broth
⁃ Address any gut issues early don’t ignore them - e.g: asthma, eczema and skin conditions (it’s all related to the gut)
⁃ Be the example! Kids are always watching and they will take your lead
I’d love to know how you go with the conversations. Please reach out if you have any questions or need more support in this area.
Ex
