Jamie Oliver has been struggling for years with a school feeding system that literally kills children. We shouldn't rely on a famous chef, so we need to teach children how to eat healthy independently. Let us find out how you can achieve that.
Why is it important for children to eat?
Why is Jamie Oliver so addicted to food in school cafeterias? Because in the UK and the US, children in schools are fed nuggets, burgers, and chips. All this is poured with ketchup, sweet milkshakes, and soda and is reflected in the obesity epidemic. The point is not in the fat content of food and not in the wild amount of sugar, but in the fact that school food is often impossible to swallow.
Excess weight is not given as a gift for 18 years; it is gained gradually and imperceptibly. Jamie Oliver is right that the habit of eating harmful food is established from childhood, and dealing with the consequences is always more difficult than preventing them. Since we have no hope for a chef who will reform the school feeding system, we must take matters into our own hands and engage in forming good habits in our children.
Read also: 9 Signs The Food You Eat Isn’t Right For You
How to teach your child to eat right
Don't force food in the dining room
If you are unlucky with the cooks, and the child does not eat at school, you will throw your lunch money down the drain. The child will still buy a pie, tongue, or croutons. Hot food should not be considered an absolute, although it is useful. The soup won't cure gastritis, which is caused by bacteria and aggravates stress. Especially the soup that will not be eaten.
Irregular eating is not known what actually provokes inflammation. But if you choose between a tasteless lunch and a healthy snack, but dry food, then the latter is better. And the question of liquid is solved by a bottle of compote or a packet of juice.
The problem is that giving lunch for the whole day, especially for high school students, is difficult. There is no refrigerator, nowhere to warm up lunch, and even carry it in a backpack full of textbooks. Unfortunately, only lunches can help you here.
Eat right at home
No matter how things are at school, morning and evening are in your hands, and basic eating habits are laid in the family. The only way to show your child how to do it right is to leave no options. That is, at home, all food should be healthy. Without a ton of sugar, this means minimally processed, cooked without liters of oil, and frying and no canned food.
Fresh, unprocessed foods that we cook at home are overwhelmingly healthy. Don't bother looking for your next super healthy meal. First, throw all the mayonnaise out of the refrigerator.
Learn to cook
If you think that health can never be tasty, then you have problems with cooking. The same Jamie Oliver copes with the task, and we publish many of his advice. Fast food and rolls are more appetizing because of the sugar, salt, and flavorings. You can only compete with such artillery with food that drools. That is, from delicious and beautifully served.
/158210815-56a13d965f9b58b7d0bd5532.jpg)
Don't force me to eat foods you don't like
Your child is unlikely to want to eat broccoli from a steamer, and I understand him. Do not get hung up on the magical properties of one product; add substitutes to your diet. You cannot instill a healthy eating habit without a lack of desire.
Don't keep sweets at home
The stock of cookies and sweets will not leave every adult indifferent, let alone children. Buy a few sweets so that you can only eat one serving of dessert. Fewer temptations - less chance of succumbing to them.
Reduce the amount of salt gradually
The World Health Organization advises eating no more than 5 grams of salt per day. This is less than a teaspoon. At the same time, on average, we eat 1.5-2.5 times more. Lack of salt helps to avoid fast food. Because ready-to-eat and convenience foods start to feel overly salty when the receptors get used to real taste foods.
Use spices
Except if you are allergic to them, of course. Spices are an analog of flavor enhancers, only natural and healthy—a healthy alternative to nutritional supplements.
Have a nasty day
The child will eat something wrong, especially a teenager, resisting when all the classmates went for burgers? Take control and arrange junk food outings to avoid turning junk food into a taboo pleasure.
Also read: 9 Ways To Start Eating Healthier Without Effort
Communicate the benefits in accessible language
The child does not understand what is useful. We already know what high blood pressure, excess weight, and gastritis are. For children, health problems are too far away; it is difficult for them to give up harmful, but so tasty, for the sake of a vague future.
Talk to children in their language. Tell them how a specific product will help them. Potatoes are needed for more energy. Meat is needed to strengthen muscles and pass physical education standards. This is a clear benefit, not abstract health.
Ask the coach at the sports school to talk to the children
It's great if the child plays sports. Because no trainer in the world will support an unhealthy diet, ask your coach to give a short lecture (if he hasn’t already done so) about eating right and how it affects your athletic performance. Leadership authority should work.
Adapted and translated by The Cop Cart Staff
Sources: Life hacker
