Starting Life Well

Your baby is the most precious gift life could have given you, and now you need to give your baby a precious gift: the gift of good health.

Childhood diets create adult diseases, and you don’t want to be the reason for your baby being sick.

Foods habits start young.

Think children are naturally inclined to foods loaded with salt and sugar? Think again.

Experts say that children who are raised on a low-salt diet do not crave salt when they grow up. Alternatively, those raised on a high-salt diet, continue that trend throughout their life.

Bad habits of excess salt and sugar develop if children are allowed to eat those foods! It’s that simple.

Don’t keep anything in the house that you don’t want them to get their hands on. Children quickly learn that they can refuse dinner with a tantrum till their desired food is given.

Children should only be given PLANT-BASED WHOLE FOODS that are minimally processed (whole foods) – such foods provide all the nutrition that a child needs to thrive. These include a balanced mix of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds during the day.

Doctors claim that the healthiest diet is a PLANT-BASED WHOLE FOODS one. To help your baby adapt to this lifestyle to grow up healthy and happy, this is what you need to do:

Develop A Healthy Relationship With Food

Your children’s lifelong relationship with food is impacted by what you feed them Be mindful of the fact that food is not just meant to satisfy hunger, it is the most important source of nutrition. Here are fun ways to help your children relate to healthy food:

• Get rid of all unhealthy food at home and do not keep any sugar, oil, sweeteners, colorants or additives
• Do not give them any bad foods since what they eat now forms a lifetime habit
• Along with teaching them good smells and bad smells, and good manners and bad manners, teach them the difference between good food and bad food
• Do not offer bad foods as rewards for good behaviors, offer healthy food!
• Decorate the plate with colorful pieces of fruit and vegetable and make up games with them
• Get creative with food servings – scoop out watermelon balls, or make shapes out of carrot sticks
• Name snack times with food names, for example, call 4 pm ‘pear time’ or 11 am ‘coconut water time’

Establish Routines

Establish a meal routine so that children can bring discipline into their eating habits.

• Share your meals: Eating as a family helps your children understand mealtime norms
• Set a good example for your children: Don’t eat the foods they are asked to avoid, and also eat the same healthy foods you put on their plate
• Let your children eat only as much as their hunger dictates (till they are full): Do not use threats or bribes to get them to eat

References:

1. Kelly Dorfman, M.S., L.N.D., author of the book, Cure Your Child With Food
2. Milton R. Mills, M.D., Associate Director of Preventive Medicine for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
3. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of the book, Disease-Proof Your Child
4. Natalie Geary, M.D., and Oz Garcia, Ph.D., authors of the book, The Food Cure For Kids