Routine eating for kids

Children – right into even late teen years – are growing and developing. We send our kids to school for academic training, but education about food has to come from home. They need a solid basis of sound nutrition in order to provide energy for all that is going on in their bodies, and the good eating habits they develop now will serve them well in the years ahead.

Children learn by example – they will eat fruit and vegetables and try new foods, as long as they see you do. You are their role model, and younger children especially really want to be just like you. If you can’t stand to eat anything green, you are going to have a problem ‘faking’ enjoyment of vegetables. The first one to train in this case is yourself! Carrots make a good starting veg since they are naturally sweet and crunchy. Most children seem to enjoy peas and sweetcorn, too; and it’s not a giant-leap to progress from peas to beans and pulses. Try cooked chickpeas as a nibble snack.

Sometimes it may seem easier to give them take-aways, like burgers or pizza, just to save fights and resistance, but you will not be doing them or yourself any favours. Nearly all processed foods (especially take-aways) are overloaded with saturated fats, sodium and sugar which are unhealthy, and though you may think that this can be overcome at a later stage why set up bad eating habits in the first place?

The closer foods are to their natural state the more nutritious they are. Home prepared meals will provide more in the way of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients than any restaurant meal or take-away.

Routine is important for healthy eating. Children thrive on routine because it gives them a sense of security, so set regular meal and snack times, and have a specific eating space that the whole family uses. Always start with breakfast; gradually replace sugary cereals with high fibre cereals served with fresh fruit (e.g. chopped banana, pureed apple, strawberries) and/or yoghurt for natural sweetness, or opt for toasted whole grain bread with peanut butter. Don’t let the gap between meals stretch too long. A hungry child will get scratchy and irritable very quickly so a snack may be in order – provided there is at least an hour to go before the next scheduled meal.

Don’t stress about the amount of food your child eats – forcing him to finish everything on his plate is bad for everyone’s digestion; some days he may devour everything you put on his plate - and then ask for more! When he doesn’t eat enough (by your standards) don’t bribe (sweeties or ice cream if he eats) or threaten (no TV), just accept that he has had as much as he wants. Don’t be tempted to offer an alternative food, either. He’ll eat when he’s hungry.

Needed: 40 winks

How do you sleep? or, more to the point, how do you wake up?

Working from home means that I seldom have to leap out of bed in the cold, bleak darkness of dawn; I don’t have to battle with traffic; and my children have all left home, so I don’t have to shake, wake and feed them before they shuffle off to school. I usually wake naturally – alarm clocks ringing put me in a bad mood for the whole day – and spend my first twenty minutes contemplating and planning the day ahead. I am, indeed, fortunate.

How you wake and regain control of your body and mind sets the tone for the next fifteen hours or so.
Most people wake to a jangling alarm clock, fall out of bed and gulp down a couple of cups of coffee before throwing themselves into the car and fighting traffic to get to the office on time. Sudden activity like this, accompanied by caffeine, raises adrenaline levels and blood pressure. This equals stress. Once the adrenaline wears off, you begin to flag, so that by mid-afternoon (or earlier!) all you want is to sleep, but you still have many things to do before bedtime comes around again. Low energy levels leave you feeling irritable, de-motivated and unable to concentrate.

Here are a few tips to ward off daytime sleepiness:

“If music soothes the savage breast “… set your clock radio to a ‘light’ classical music station rather than ‘talk radio’, or get a docking station for your i-pod and use that. And don’t use the snooze button! Classical music does wonders for the brain. You can listen to the news in the car on the way to work.

And, breathe… spend a few minutes taking deep breaths and stretching before you get out of bed.

Let there be light… the hormone melatonin (released during the hours of darkness) tells us it is time to sleep. Light stops melatonin, so if you need to get up while there is no natural light, turn on the electric lights as you progress from bedroom to bathroom to kitchen.

Negative ions improve mood. Our modern lifestyle produces a lot of positive ions, so cancel some of those out with running water – stay in the bathroom while you fill the bath, or take a shower.

A bedtime routine helps your body to wind down and prepare to sleep. Try to go to bed (and get up) at the same time each day – even weekends. This helps establish a healthy sleeping pattern, so that after a while you will wake naturally without an alarm.

“To sleep, perchance to dream”… of course, getting enough sleep is vital for mental and physical health. A lot of people run on a sleep deficit – you need between seven and a half and nine hours undisturbed sleep a night. Finish eating and drinking at least two and a half hours before bedtime.

You are what you eat… and you must eat breakfast. You must. Yoghurt, fresh fruit and/or wholewheat products will keep hunger pangs at bay, at least until lunchtime when, by the way, you need to eat again!

zzzzz… Hey! Wake up! You can’t sleep now!