Teaching Kids to Eat Right by Teaching Them To Cook
I have yet to meet a parent who doesn’t struggle with getting their children to eat better. What that means, exactly, varies from family to family, but in general parents seem to be aiming for less sugar and fat, and more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. We all know that parents and care providers play the biggest role in the way kids eat—we buy, prepare, and serve food, and in doing so, pass our own food habits on to our children. Those habits take root early in life. In fact, a recent study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine has shown that it happens as early as age two.
A lot of us are worried about childhood obesity right now. Every time you turn on the TV or open a newspaper or magazine there’s a story somewhere about childhood obesity or someone who is trying to help kids eat better. We all want our kids to be healthy and happy. The recipe for that seems simple—good, healthy food, and lots of exercise, just like the old days, right? The trouble is, since so many of us who now have small children grew up in the age of convenience and fast food, most of us have no idea what good healthy food is or how to go about creating it for ourselves. If we don’t know, how will they?
Fortunately there’s a kids’ culinary movement afoot, and believe it or not, kids as young as age three are learning to cook. And I mean really cook. In my classes they’re not cooking from boxes or heating things up in microwaves, they’re making Chinese dumplings, blueberry muffins, roasted tofu, and even bread from scratch. They’re learning to chop, peel, grate, and mix, and they’re loving every minute of it. The youngest ones are easy because little kids and cooking just go together. They enjoy the kitchen’s abundance of sensory experiences and are thrilled when they get to eat and share their creations. Older kids are a little tougher because many have already established their food habits by the time they come to my classes, but they love the experience of cooking and creating something beautiful and tasty. And because they know who made it and what’s in it, they will often try something new. In the end, usually even the pickiest of eaters can’t resist the aromas and textures they’ve created with their own hands.
In my experience working with kids, teaching them to cook is an essential weapon in the fight for our children’s health. It’s like the old adage, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” If we feed them something healthy they learn to choose the same healthy foods we’ve chosen, which is great, but it’s limited. If we take the time to teach them to cook they’ll have the tools they need to expand their palates and their horizons. And if your kids are fortunate enough to attend a cooking class in your neighborhood, they might even teach you a thing or two.
Chef Lisa Holmes
The Childrens Culinary Academy
Tel. 774.392.1711
www.childrensculinary.com
Books by Lisa Holmes
Bitter Harvest
In Mother’s Kitchen
Lunch Lessons