National School Meals Week in November is aimed at promoting healthy eating awareness in the nation's youth.
One man has taken his mission to feed his children healthy produce to extreme with elaborate and creative sandwiches.
Has anyone got any tried and tested techniques to encourage a healthy and varied diet in kids? (As a mother of two) I'd love to hear them.
I've found that when my children join in the cooking they're much more enthusiastic in the eating!
My niece came over for lunch recently. We had a dessert from a Jamie Oliver book: take one bag of maltesers, put them in a big palstic bag, bash them on the side of a table until they're just as pile of crumbs. Then serve on top of vanilla ice cream. Josie loved the prep as much as the dessert itself.
Now, I'm not suggesting that a bowl of sweets and ice cream is good for tyou. However, I think the point still stands that if you get kids involved in preparing food and make it fun, you can get them to engage with the whole business of food and eating.
I guess the healthier equivalent of this is giving kids the chance to grow fruit and veg in the garden?
I just read about a children's book which explains the lengthy journey peas take from pod to plate.
It's aimed at encouraging kids to eat their peas through story-telling and lovely illustrations (Simon Rickerty has been shortlisted for the Best Emerging Illustrator award by Booktrust).
Perhaps this makes a good alternative for those who don't have the time/space/skill(!) to get growing their own.
I'm not convinced that smiley faces on food works - well it certainly didn't with my two who are now 11 and 12. Children either like the taste of food or they don't and you just have to keep persuading them to try food (often the same food) until their palates develop enough to enjoy a broader range.
But I agree with the previous post - the more children are involved in preparing food, the greater their interest in it generally. And one other thing I've noticed, my children are far more ambitious if I take them to a posh restaurant - I don't know why - they just are. Maybe they've got more confidence in a professional chef - and the ratings system - than in me!
I just saw a bloke in the street with a t-shirt saying "give peas a chance". perhaps we should buy these for our kids and hope the subliminal messaging works ...
A variation on my husband's expression 'give quiche a chance'...
My 11 year old daughter thinks peas will kill her ... so they are now commonly known as "Killer Peas".
I feel it is much us as parents who are to blame as we have forgotten the pleasures of all sitting around a table and enjoying a meal. You just have to watch how some parents eat out in restaurants and allow their kids to behave or what they feed them.
My older step children were a nightmare when I first knew them as they would not eat anything unless it was processed or full of addiditives. Now if they come to visit if I fail to serve up something a bit more adventurtous they moan like hell!
I agree do something that involves them in the preparation and it will engage them to enjoy it that bit more and hopefully make them try something new... I know from my own persoanl upbringing I was a nightmare child in terms of what I would eat and my mother despaired... but as we grow up our tastes change develop and mature. If you a force a child to eat something I feel you can do more damage.