A book came across my desk not too long ago and it got me thinking about chewing your food. We're always reminding our children to chew their food, shut their mouth when they chew, slow down when they eat, hurry up and eat.
Young children spend a lot of their day eating but what is really happening when we chew and are our children doing enough of it?
More Peas Please by Kate Di Prima and Dr Julie Cichero addresses the issue of fussy eaters and getting good food into kids of all ages. The aspect of the book that interested me is the connection between healthy eating and speaking. Western society’s need to eat on the go and the obsession with fast food is doing a disservice to our children. When a child has a container of fruit in syrup instead of a piece of fresh fruit in their lunch or a tube of sugary yoghurt instead of a bowl of yoghurt with muesli for breakfast, they are not using their mouths to eat in a way that is best for their development.
Eating and chewing foods of different textures and consistencies gets your jaw, lips and tongue working in ways that encourage good muscle tone. A strong mouth and jaw is needed in order to form words and create the sounds needed to communicate.
Parents often complain that they can’t get their children to eat food from certain food groups. Sometimes it isn’t a simple matter of not caring for a particular type of food. Other things can also be factors in a child’s dislike of foods. Always be sure to rule out any food intolerances - children can be avoiding certain food groups for a very good reason. Another issue for many children is food textures. The sense of touch is a very big part of eating, it can take time for a child to get used to mushy porridge or slimy mushrooms.
If your child is still very young, make a point of putting foods of different textures on their plate. If you are not certain about what your baby is ready to eat
More Peas Please has a helpful section on food readiness.
Also, someone once told me a child might need to have food on their plate up to 30 times before they start to like it. I don’t know if that is true but when my boys were younger and I had a in-home day care, I used to put a tiny bit of a food item on the plate and just let it sit there, they didn’t even have to try it if they didn’t want to. If they tried it and didn’t like it I would tell them that’s ok and do the same the next time. For the most part the children got used to the three peas or small leaf of lettuce and started to eat them. It seemed to work as long as I didn’t have any expectations about the trying or liking of the food. All the children tried the food when they were ready and I feel I had a lot of success with that approach.
If your children are older and not eating a variety of healthy foods it may be harder to change their habits. There is a lot of discussion about little children and what they eat but when I look around I see plenty of primary and high school age children who are very fussy. I do have some suggestions for getting older children interested in a more healthy diet but I find the most important thing is to speak to them about something that is important to them. If your child loves sport than approach diet from the angle of an athlete, if they care about the planet then look at it as an environmentalist would. If your family asks their children to do chores include food related jobs. Getting your child into the store to participate in the shopping is also helpful. Cooking is also a great way to motivate children to eat well. If given the opportunity some children really enjoy cooking for their family.
It takes effort to get a variety of healthy foods into a family's diet, especially when there is such a range of easy, pre-packaged food available. The benefits of eating fresh, home prepared foods are so numerous and we are well aware of most of them. Having a working mouth and jaw so you can be understood when you speak is just another one.
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