Food. It is an influential part of our lives, and our children’s lives. The way we consume it, the way we cook it, or react to it, or use it in conjunction with a particular emotion – it is all a part of our food culture.
Every family has a unique lifestyle, upbringing, and heritage that influences the way they react to certain aspects of their lives. This includes attitudes toward food. Every family has a unique food culture, and it is important for young children that your family’s food culture is a healthy one.
Food culture is passed down from parents to children and is largely formed through attitudes and reactions to food, so forming a healthy food culture for your family means expressing positive attitudes to food. This means ignoring society’s food culture, which may influence children through their interactions with advertising, television, and movies. It is also often unhealthy.
How to create a positive food culture
Teach your children about where their food comes from and how it is produced. This could mean bringing them on trips to farms, teaching them to garden, or explaining things at the grocery store. Talk to them about food! Teach children about what fruits and vegetables are in season.
Cook food with your children! Cooking food from scratch allows children to develop healthy attitudes toward food because it teaches them how it is made. It also prevents them from being picky as they have control over what they are consuming when they know everything that goes into their food.
Eat together. When you eat together, you are showing that your attitude toward food is a positive one. It brings your family together, it is not rushed, and it allows for children to experience all types of food.
At Childventures, we strive to foster positive attitudes toward food by having children eat together, by providing healthy choices, and by teaching children about different aspects of nutrition.