*Guest post*
When I was growing up with my sisters, our mother never encouraged us to eat healthy meals. I don’t remember ever hearing the words “healthy” every being used in our house. In all seriousness, my siblings and myself were raised on snack foods such as Little Debbie, Hostess and anything we can cook ourselves such as Hot Pockets, TV dinners and cereal because our mother wouldn’t cook a thing. Every once in a while, our step father would cook something, and it would most likely be macaroni and cheese with pork chop. I was never taught that water is life, instead it was Coke.
This was our life. As you may have guessed, I was a massive child playing video games.
Despite growing up with terrible food choices, I knew that it was wrong and something was missing. To this day, I do not like many greens, nor do I like many fruits. I think carrots taste like dirt and I feel as if my parents have ruined me because these were foods I was never introduced to at an early age.
When I got married and had my two children (ages 3 and 5), my wife and I pledged to never participate in this form of child abuse my parents had done with me. I didn’t know this would be easier said than done, but with some patience and practice, our efforts to get our children to eat better have worked. Along the way as we invested into our children’s health, I had to learn a few things as well.
The first thing I had to learn was to practice what you preach. Children do watch us and look up to us. They automatically assume we know best without us having to tell them. When I was telling my children why it’s important to eat veggies, I realized real fast I had to learn how to eat veggies as well or else eat my words. If you want your children eating better, get involved with them. If my children catch me eating unhealthy, months of hard work is down the drain and we have to start all over again. Bad habits are easier to teach than good ones, but I haven’t figured out why that is.
Once my kids and even myself got on a good eating habits, I decided to teach them where junk food comes from versus where real food comes from. Children are smarter than we give them credit for being. If my wife and I are whispering while they are watching movies, they don’t know what is being said, but they already know it’s a secret and try to listen!
I taught them that food such as a twinkie can never give you life because it was never living and that connection seemed to hit home with them. Not only that, but the chemicals and unnatural things put into junk food seemed to disgust them.
As I said before, the journey to healthy eating is easier said than done although Michelle seems to have her cute little ones easily enjoying healthy raisins for snacks. I had to learn to be persistent. Multiple research finds that the majority of children require more than one exposure to new foods when trying them, so aim for 10 exposures at the most. This doesn’t mean that your child will begin eating broccoli when it’s put in front of them 10 nights in a row. Instead, it means that you can’t give up on broccoli the first time it is rejected.
About the author: Gaming industry veteran Joe Olujic has years of experience working in executive level roles, having served as chief operating officer and assistant general manager of finance during his 15 plus years in the industry.
Getting them hooked on healthy foods when they are younger is key. My girls drink milk and water all the time. They aren't fond of soda. My daughter once asked if she could have a cucumber for her snack when a friend was over. That friend was baffled since most kids want cookies or something else unhealthy. If you don't keep it in the house, they don't eat it. If you start them early, they definitely grow to love the good stuff.
Good point. I'm also a plain water person simply because we never had any sugary/flavoured drinks around the house when I was growing up!