Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008 - (Page 10)

eat your ❋ what they don’t know Lapine recommends taking “superfoods”—so-called because of their winning combination of vitamins, minerals and nutritional content—and adding them to what a child is already noshing. “In early stages, kids start trying to exercise a bit of independence,” she says. “There can be power struggles where a child has no control over his little life except for what he puts in his mouth. I suggest working with the food your child loves and using that as a ‘taxi’ to better nutrition,” she says. Instead of cajoling, coercing or begging a child to eat a side plate of broccoli with his preferred spaghetti and meatballs, “taxi” a purée of green-vegetable superfoods, such as broccoli, spinach and peas, into the meatballs as you pack them. The child won’t taste any difference, healthy foods are introduced, and nutritional instruction can be tackled in a more relaxed manner. That’s because while you’ve smuggled broccoli into the meatball, you can still serve it on the side too, emphasizing to your child the need for a balanced diet. But if he doesn’t eat that side dish, no earth-shattering loss. And no frustration. “You’ve got to work with foods your kids like, and then gradually introduce new ones,” Lapine says. Put two or more parents in a room together and invariably the talk turns to why Bailey is Mr.-I-can’tlet-any-of-the-food-groups-on-my-plate-toucheach-other. And how Dylan will only eat yellow foods—this month. And trying to understand why little Maddie can only eat salami and olives. Or just salami. Or just olives. Indeed, every parent has experienced a sort of nutritional tug-of-war with a child: what is good for a growing body versus what a child will or will not eat. It can become a frustrating war of wills. But according to Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals (Running Press, 2007), parents needn’t give up. They just need to “sneak in” some nutrition. And that doesn’t mean going to elaborate lengths. “Rather than making log cabins out of asparagus,” she says, “you’re taking a few extra seconds to purée something and put it into your child’s favorite food. It ensures [nutritional] success at the very next meal … and it relieves that pressure.” 10 vim & vigor · w inte r 2 008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008 Contents Friendly Faces For Your Health 'Tis the Season to be Safe Eat Your Veggies Joint Effort Fresh Beginnings Decades of Opportunity Keeping Score Your Big Give Roll Up Your Sleeve Tidings of Comfort and Health Blueprint for Safety The Smoke-Free Mom-to-Be Childbirth Trends Moms Choosing Midwives Community Sections Dollars & Sense Ask the Experts

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2008

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