Healthy Food & Nutrition

January 2, 2010

The importance of good nutrition and good eating habits in children is a very big topic. To start with when children do not eat right it will affect their development for both the body and learning. It affects their body because they are not getting the right nutrients that a growing child needs and this can lead to a host of health problems that can if not corrected become worse as they age and can even lead to death. By teaching young children basic healthy eating habits we can teach them how to pick the right types of foods as they grow and if we model good eating habits this will reinforce the importance of eating right. The good nutrition and good eating habits go together with physical activity. If we do not help children to do both then they can still have health problems. Everyone should use the food pyramid at home and school to help teach the healthy habits needed for life.

Infants start their lives by having formula or breat milk to get all teh nutrients needed because they are growing so fast and a mothers milk is the best way for them to get everything they need.

Toddlers are changing in different ways so they need a different set of nutrients to keep their bodies going daily. They need more choses and they can also become very picky about what they want, so we as adults need to be able to find ways around them being picky and still get the nutrients into them. If we are good role models and show them that the foods are good then they may be more willing to try the new foods.

Preschoolers are not as picky in most cases, but they can be and many preschoolers would rather have the same foods over and over than try new things so again we need to be creative on how we introduce foods and being the role model is a great way for us to get our children to eat healthy.
Adults should help teach children healthy eating habits because they are the role model for the children in their care (Robertson, 2010). Adults can teach that food is something you eat at certain times of the day and it should be a family style meal both at home and school. Adults should sit with the children and model good eating habits so the children learn at a young age. Adults should also do cooking activities with the children so they learn how to prepare foods that are fun and healthy and this also helps with other areas of knowledge for school. Adults can work together with their children to make a class cookbook with the recipes they use for their cooking projects. There are many books and web sites available to help you find recipes that are child friendly. There are also many professional sites that have a wide variety of resources for teachers and parents to become more knowledgeable so they can better care for young children.

The first recipe I am using is: Cheesy Bow-Tie Primavera
Ingredients: 8 oz. Dry Bow-Tie Pasta, 2 cups Fresh Broccoli, 2 cups Fresh Cauliflower, 1 cup Milk, 12 oz. Processed Cheese (Velveeta)
Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add dry pasta and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add broccoli and cauliflower into the same pot with the pasta and boil for 6 more minutes. Drain, put milk in the same pot and return to the stove, pour in drained pasta and vegetables and add cheese. Stir constantly until cheese melts. Remove from heat and serve. Makes 4-6 servings.
This recipe is healthy and can be fun for the children to do some of the prep work with their parents. It is nutritious because it has many of the food groups in one dish and it is colorful which is a good visual is for the children.

My second recipe is: Pita Pizzas
Ingredients: 8 whole wheat mini pitas, ¼ cup pizza sauce, 1 cup shredded non-fat mozzarella, 4 medium white mushrooms, sliced, 24 slices turkey pepperoni ( about 1 ½ ozs), cut into strips ( you can also use ham as an alternative to the turkey pepperoni ), 2 Tablespoons black olives, sliced.
Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees, supply each child with 2 mini pitas, allow the children to build their own pizzas with the above ingredients, Place the pita pizzas on a baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly, let cool a few minutes before serving.
Makes 4 servings

The last recipe is: Tuna Sandwich
Ingredients: 1 12oz can chunk white tuna in water, drained, 1 Tablespoon light mayonnaise, ¼ cup celery, finely diced, ¼ cup red onion, finely diced, 4 green leaf lettuce leaves,8 pieces whole-grain bread, crusts cut off, and toasted, salt and pepper to taste
Directions: In a small bowl, mix together tuna, mayonnaise, celery, and onion, add salt and pepper to taste, spread tuna mixture on top of four pieces of toast, place lettuce on top of tuna, complete sandwich with the other four slices of toasted bread, use a fish shaped cookie cutter to cut the sandwiches into fun shapes.
Makes four sandwiches

For these recipes the nutritional value to me is the fact that they all have healthy ingredients and we have no extra sugar added unless it is already in the ingredient. I have picked recipes that are easy for children to help with and they can do a lot of the steps in the recipes. These are recipes that I would do with my grandchildren and all but one of them is able to help in the kitchen and they do whenever they are over.
The things that will help make cooking with children for parents is to let the start by going shopping with you and then give them easy jobs to do in the beginning and gradually work up to letting them do other things. They can easily tear vegetables, butter bread, mix and stir with supervision. Cooking together is a great way to form a better bond between family members; children are more likely to eat something if they help make it, when letting them help we are teaching them about math, science and many other subjects.



References:
Robertson, C. (n.d.). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Cheesy Bow-Tie Primavera, Retrieved on January 1, 2010, from http://www.florida-agriculture.com/pubs/pubform/pdf/Kids_Kitchen_Cookbook.pdf
Pita Pizzas Retrieved on January 1, 2010 from www.playhousedisney.com
Tuna Sandwich, Retrieved on January 1, 2010 from www.playhousedisney.com