Shaping an Adventurous Eater and School Lunch Inspo
My tips for nurturing a healthy relationship with food and a Cheerios rant
Back-to-school season is here, and my daughter just had her first month of preschool. I must say, I am loving the ritual of preparing her school lunch each morning and unpacking her backpack at the end of the day to see an empty (ish) tray. There is something comforting for me in knowing that within this little world of her own, she will open her lunch box at the same time each day and enjoy what I have prepared for her amongst her new friends.
Packing lunch each morning comes with ease because Lou loves to eat and is very adventurous with food. Yes, like all toddlers before her, she will favor the fruit and seek the sugar hit, or give us what we call the sugar shakedown. However, her love for fruit and carbs hasn’t deterred her from also loving protein and veggies and for that, we are grateful. I know our fate could shift at any time, but the fact that we have gotten to almost three years old with a willingness to eat a variety of whole foods is something that gives me peace, regardless of what the future holds. Research shows that the first one thousand days of life are a crucial window of time when deficiencies can have long-term impact on health and cognitive abilities. The first two years lay the foundation. Fortunately, it is in the first two years that we as parents have the most control over what our kiddos eat.
Some say having a “good eater” comes down to luck, but I think there is more to it than that. As a trained nutrition consultant, I believe there are things we can do early on to help shape our children’s relationship with food for the best. In fact, the research shows that baby-led weaning does help promote more flexible eaters.
Here are my tips for helping to nurture a healthy relationship with food:
Start by looking at your own relationship with food. Does food spark joy for you? Do you prioritize meal time? Do you set intentions around the food you eat? Do you cook? Does your partner cook? Do you include your little one in the grocery shopping and cooking? What is the energy around food in your home? Do you grow your own food and show your child the magic of how food comes to be? I believe that approaching food with reverence and joy and modeling the pleasure that can come from it rubs off on our children.
If you have ever shared a meal with me, you know that my love for food is very evident. If something hits the spot for me, I am like Sally from the infamous scene in When Harry Met Sally, turned brilliant Super Bowl commercial. Now I am not saying you should fake an orgasm with every bite to try to convince your child to eat, but if you are genuinely enjoying something delicious, show it! Most importantly, find joy in the ritual of nourishing yourself.
There is a common belief that baby food must be bland and that kids only want “kid foods” like chicken tenders, macaroni, and pizza. This myth is keeping children from densely nutritious foods, from experiencing the joy of flavor, and from developing their palate! Who can blame babies for making the notorious YUCK face when they take a bite of steamed unsalted brussels sprouts? Who in their right mind wouldn’t? Yes, in the early days and weeks of introducing foods, it is wise to start slow with one/two ingredients at a time to rule out allergies. However, we always prioritized flavor and seasoning in Lou’s meals. We cooked almost everything with home made bone broth from the start, which is not only flavorful but highly nutritious. The fear around salt and babies is based on weak evidence. Here is a great article to learn more about that.
The choice to flavor up our daughters’ food made shared family meals possible. Another limiting cultural norm is that babies get their own mushy, bland food, toddlers eat pasta and butter from the kids’ menu, while adults eat sophisticated “adult food”. It is asking a lot of parents to prepare two or three separate meals, which is why so many just turn to packaged foods. By making one meal for the entire family to share and enjoy, this not only makes life easier but also sets the stage for your child to go with the food-flow. Our daughter knows that what is served for dinner is her only option. We don’t cater to requests for something different. We have never ordered for her from a kids’ menu; she eats what we eat (with some limitations of course like spicy foods). I love the Baby Led Weaning style of introduction for this reason. This approach also prevents parents from eating leftover Annie’s Mac n Cheese every night. Lord knows I would polish that plate on her behalf and regret it.
Complete carbohydrates play an essential role in a child’s diet, but I believe it is best to hold off on starchy foods and sugar and prioritize protein. The same goes for sweet foods. We are by no means a sugar-free family over here. I am actually far more lenient around sugar and food in general with my daughter than I thought I would be. We enjoy going out for ice cream, ordering french fries, baking together, and pastries at the farmers’ market. We occasionally eat at restaurants that surely cook with seed oils. However, when starting solids we knew this window of time would be the easiest window for us to choose wisely for her without a battle and without a double standard or creating a complex. We chose liver pate as her first food (recipe below) and prioritized savory flavors; meat, veggies, fish etc, in the first year. Iron is one of the most essential nutrients at six months of age and is far more abundant and absorbable through heme-iron sources ( found only in animal products). Fruit is often thought of as a great first food for babies, but I never understood this. We knew that the moment we introduced fruit, we would open Pandora’s box and she would know just how sweet life can be. From that point on, there is no turning back! The same goes for rice puffs etc.. Aside from having very little nutritional value it doesn’t offer an array of flavor. I think it is important for parents not to micromanage food choices forever. The easiest time to have control over your child’s diet is when they are pre-toddler, so use those early months wisely mama!
Sometimes you can try allllll the things and your strong willed babe will call the shots and all you can do is surrender. It can be so stressful when your child refuses to eat or protests the good stuff you worked hard to make. Try to keep it calm, cool, and collected. Keep the quality food on rotation, find the best possible alternative, and get creative on sneaking the good stuff in. Don’t keep junk food in the house, which makes it a lot easier not to cave. Most importantly, keep the faith! Kids go through stages. Try not to let them see your struggle around the food they eat and don’t label them as “picky eaters”.
Say Cheerio To Bad Advice
I was at the park the other day, and overheard a mom saying she started feeding her 18 month old Cheerios because her pediatrician suggested it as a highly nutritious snack.
Unfortunately, I hear this advice coming from pediatricians often, along with other garbage nutritional advice, like “start with puffs and pouches “, “night feeding causes cavities “, and “breastmilk has no value beyond a year”.
Here are the ingredients for Cheerios: Whole Grain Oats, Corn Starch, Sugar, Salt, Tripotassium Phosphate. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols). Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Iron and Zinc (mineral nutrients), Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), A B Vitamin (niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), Vitamin A (palmitate), Vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), A B Vitamin (folic acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.
Oats are one of the most glyphosate-ridden foods, and when not soaked and prepared properly, the phytic acid actually acts as an anti-nutrient, blocking the absorption of minerals like iron, zinc and calcium. On the rare occasion we eat oats, we choose this brand because it is Glyphosate free. Corn starch and sugar as the 2nd and 3rd ingredients don’t give me the warm fuzzies either. As you can see, Cheerios are fortified with synthetic vitamins and minerals, which is why doctors recommend them. However, this is precisely why I avoid them. I am far more interested in her getting iron and folate from real food like *cough cough* LIVER. Elemental iron can cause constipation, loss of appetite, stomach pain, and nausea. It can also be consumed in excess, creating oxidative stress in the body. Folic Acid can bind to folate receptors and inhibit natural folate intake in some people, creating a greater deficiency.
Are Cheerios a better cereal option than Lucky Charms? Sure. But should pediatricians be recommending cereal at all? Not in my opinion. For the first time in history, there are more obese children than underweight children. Whatever qualms you may have with the MAHA movement, this is undoubtably a result of the propagation of ultra processed foods, Cheerios being an ultra processed food…
Truthfully, my grievance isn’t the Cheerios themselves or the mother’s choice to feed them to her child. My issue lies with the uninformed doctor who is leading his patients to believe that a processed, pesticide-ridden food is a nutritious snack.
I can guarantee you this doctor didn’t tell that mom to make liver pate for her son. Perhaps the doc doesn’t know that liver is one of the most densely nutritious foods (iron especially), perhaps doc doesn’t believe a child would ever go for it, or perhaps they believe that it would place too big a burden on the parent to recommend an unpackaged food.
I am not a purist. My daughter has consumed processed foods and by the way, she quickly found her way over to the boy with the Cheerios and helped herself to some. I don’t get too bothered by her eating processed food on occasion, but when she does, I am not under the illusion that it is healthy for her. Thankfully, I wasn’t misled with poor nutritional advice from a medical provider.
Here are some snacks from her lunch box, the first couple of weeks of school. As a ‘90s kid from the Lunchable generation, there is something about the tray compartments that really sparks joy. It also helps me prioritize a balanced meal/snack with protein, fat, and carbohydrates, and add more variety. I hope these provide some helpful inspo for you.