Educating our kid’s about their food

March is National Nutrition Month  and the perfect time to start thinking about the food education your kids are getting.  When I was growing up, my mom was far from a gourmet chef, but she did teach me about eating healthy at a young age and I have used this knowledge throughout my life.  Today, food education is much more complicated than just “ eat your vegetables”, our food supply is loaded with chemicals and science and not much real food.   GMO ‘s. pesticide residue , chemical additives and preservatives permeate our food supply and pose serious health risks, so now more than ever kids need to learn how to eat, so that they may support and foster their own health rather than destroy it.

Chicken Nuggets, while convenient, should not make up the majority of what children eat. Many children have no idea chicken nuggets are even made of chicken!! Jamie Oliver recorded a great video  teaching school children what is really in a chicken nugget, very informative and educational for teaching older children about food and food processing. (Watch the video here) .

This is probably the most important factor in teaching children about nutrition. Your children will eat what you eat, your habits, good or bad, will become their habits. Honestly looking at the example you are setting will serve their food education much more than the philosophy of “do as I say, not as I do.”   Teaching healthy eating behaviors will benefit your children throughout their life and help them avoid obesity and the health problems that a unhealthy diet lead to.

I would love to hear your thoughts, how have you taught your kids about food and how have they responded?

BE WELL!!