French Kids Eat Everything

I actually read this book in July but I forgot that I had never blogged about it until I was going through my camera and deleting photos.

I actually read this book at a good time because we were really struggling with getting Lucas to eat a decent amount of food-- he's always eaten a good variety of food, but he is definitely a snacker. Which is the antithesis of this book.... because French Kids don't snack.  But, at his 18 month appointment, our doctor recommended letting him eat often as he is such a tiny little bugger so let's just throw that rule out the window right?

I don't feel quite so guilty posting the rules since it was on the back cover.  But I did add my own commentary below.

1.  Parents, you are in charge of food education.
In France, they actually have a whole curriculum in their schools focused on teaching kids about     food and health food practices.

2.  Avoid emotional eating (no food bribes!)
Come on, if you are a parent you know you have said "Just eat one more bite of vegetables and you can have a cookie".  Tsk, tsk according to this book. And it makes sense when they explain why but it is so hard.  You don't want kids to link vegetables to being a bad food.  Same thing with saying things like "If you're good, you can have dessert".  You don't want kids to link their behavior to food either. Studies have shown that's actually linked to childhood obesity (I don't know if that's in the book or from a Jillian Michaels podcast..true story, either way).

3.  Parents plan and schedule meals and menus.  Kids eat what adults eat.
"Don't be a short order cook" as the book says.  I think this is pretty easy for us to avoid because we just have Lucas to worry about and so we just plan our meals around things he like or at least something he will eat a portion of.  But I can imagine if you had more than one child, this would be difficult. The book poses the argument that by catering to your child's favorite foods, you never make them try other foods and they might not discover they like a food they initially didn't like.

4. Eat family meals together.
We do our best but unfortunately with Mike's job/work schedule, we don't always succeed. What we DO a pretty good job at is no TV while we eat.  When Lucas gets older, I will probably implement some kind of family tradition like sharing the highlight of the day or something like that.

5.  Eat your veggies (think variety).
One of the best things I ever got from a Bluum box was a plate that has separate sections labeled-meat, grains, veggies, and fruit.  And I do my best to make sure Lucas gets a balanced meal, even when I don't use the plate.  It's easy to let our kids fall into the habit of just eating a plate of pasta, but trust me, it's not that hard to heat up a can of green beans.  Or just open a can of green beans-Lucas actually likes them that way too!  They're not organic, but at least they have nutrition.

6.  You don't have to like it but you do have to taste it.
Don't force your child to eat something.  Trust me- I was traumatized by a daycare that would make me finish my plate.  They actually told my mom I couldn't come anymore because I threw up every day- because they forced me to eat.  However, asking your child to taste something and then choose not to eat anymore of it will not kill them (unless they have a food allergy....then it might).

7.  No snacking (It's okay to feel hungry between meals).
Like I said, the book promotes no snacking.  You eat breakfast, lunch, a meal after school and a late supper.  And I agree that kids need to realize what hungry feels like so they don't overeat.  But if that doesn't work for your family, do what does.  If your child (like mine) likes smaller meals but more frequent snacks, just make sure they are all healthy.

8.  Slow food is happy food- as in, eat slow!
Lucas is a slower eater so this naturally makes us slow down.  But I think it's hard when you have kids in activities and you need to be here and there... I know on ECFE nights, we are eating as we walk to class.  However, rushing through a meal doesn't allow us to 1) enjoy it or 2) for our bodies to realize that we ate and so we get hunger sooner.

9.  Eat mostly real food.
You hear it all over- shop on the outside of the grocery store.  And it's so true- that is where the healthy food that our kids should be eating is.  By setting them up with healthy habits now, they will hopefully grow up to eat healthy foods when they are making their own food choices.

10.  Remember-eating is joyful-relax!
The French spend hours at the table...literally, HOURS.  Maybe I spend an hour at a restaurant (Ok, maybe not... have you ever eaten with a toddler).  But I can't imagine spending hours at the table.  But it really makes it a more joyful experience and builds great memories. Maybe at Thanksgiving I will encourage us to extend our meal a little bit ;)