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Posts Tagged ‘kids in the kitchen’

Helping Hands in the Kitchen

Posted in Healthy People, Healthy Relationships, tagged , , , , on April 18, 2023| 1 Comment »

Simply put, life is complicated. Whether your kids have basketball practice at 6pm or a dance recital at 7pm, often evenings come and go before you know it. With this goes the chance to help your child spend dinner time building a healthy relationship with their food. All meals, especially dinner, are great learning opportunities for parents to teach children what a healthy plate looks and tastes like. While it may seem like one extra task on your do-to list, the benefits of encouraging your children to participate in meal time will outlast any evening life hustle and bustle. To help family meal time run smoothly and relieve some of your stress, here are some quick and simple tips to get your children in the kitchen!

Child helping mix
  • Allow children to help build the week’s menu. Take into account your child’s food preferences by allowing them to have input in what is made. If you need inspiration, consider looking through cook books and online recipes together. Kid-friendly examples to try include these turkey quesadilla and pita pizza recipes.
  • Take children to the grocery store or local farmer’s market when shopping. Once there, let them choose a new fruit, vegetable, or meat to try with meals for the upcoming week.
  • Provide children with age appropriate utensils and assign them tasks that develop their kitchen skills! Examples of this include allowing toddlers to measure ingredients, knead dough, and place pizza toppings. As children get older other responsibilities such as washing fruits and vegetables, whisking eggs, filling muffin trays or cake pans, and helping with clean-up may be right for them. Keep in mind that children are more likely to try a new dish that they helped prepare so any task that they can lend a hand with will be beneficial.
  • Taste test together. Just like helping with preparation, children are also more willing to try new foods that they see others eating. Therefore, adults should model healthy eating behaviors such as filling their plate with fresh fruits and vegetables and trying ingredients they have never eaten before.
  • Don’t be discouraged, even if a child does not like a new ingredient the first time. Research shows that it can often take a child 10 exposures (or even more) to a new food before they accept it. Continue offering the ingredient in small portions with well-liked foods to increase chance of acceptance.
cooking together

Take some time this week to involve children in the kitchen by encouraging them to try new tasks and sample new ingredients. Not only will this help them develop a well-balanced diet and healthy relationship with food, but allowing them to prepare their own food strengthens self-esteem, teaches them life skills, and gives children a sense of accomplishment!

Sources:

Brickley, L. (2020). Cooking tasks kids can help with at every age. Food Network. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/recipes-for-kids/cooking-with-kids/best-cooking-tasks-kids-every-age

United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Turkey quesadilla. Nutrition. https://www.nutrition.gov/recipes/turkey-quesadilla

United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Pita pizzas. Nutrition. https://www.nutrition.gov/recipes/pita-pizzas

Author: Samantha Farnsworth, Marshall University Dietetic Intern at Ohio State University Extension, Washington County

Reviewer: Amanda Bohlen, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension, Washington County, bohlen.19@osu.edu

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Making Food Fun for a Healthier Future

Posted in Healthy People, tagged , , , , , , on February 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 18% or 13.7 million children and adolescents in the United States are obese. This means that they have a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC growth charts. It is projected that this epidemic will affect 50-80% of children in the United States by 2030.

Childhood obesity can result from an unbalanced diet consisting of high-calorie, low nutrient food and drink choices, lack of physical activity, and a rise in sedentary, screen-focused activities such as video gaming. Many studies have shown that children with obesity are at increased risk of developing short-term weight-related health conditions, as well as chronic conditions later in life. These children have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, and even premature death. This condition can also impact mental health in children, causing isolation stemming from bullying, depression, poor self-esteem, and a general lack of confidence.

BUT! There is good news. Obesity does not have to follow children into adulthood. Adopting positive lifestyle choices as children can help establish healthy habits and prevent the onset of these weight-related health conditions. Although genetics and metabolic rates differ from one child to another, healthy eating and living an active lifestyle can help manage their weight status, regardless of whether the child is at a normal weight, overweight, or obese.

You may be thinking this sounds great in an ideal world where kids get excited about eating their greens, and request grilled chicken instead of chicken nuggets, but that’s just not the world we live in. So how can we get our kids to eat nutrient-packed, lower calorie foods?

Use fun colors! – Instead of using traditional colored foods, here are some fun ideas to make your child’s plate more vibrant:

  • Try rainbow colored carrots instead of regular carrots.
  • Make a rainbow veggie wrap with bright colored peppers, spinach, and red cabbage.
  • You can also use red cabbage juice, blueberry juice, or other natural dyes to color cauliflower, rice, and yogurt a new color!

Use fun shapes! – Try creating fun, new shapes with ordinary foods. rocket shaped sandwich with vegetables

  • Use cookie cutters to cut fruit or veggies into interesting shapes.
  • Try using a spiralizer or a spiral veggie knife to present vegetables into noodles or zoodles.

Hide the fruits and veggies! – Disguise fruits and vegetables in your child’s favorite foods

  • Create a tasty, nutrient-rich smoothie with your child’s favorite fruits and vegetables and freeze it into ice pops for a tasty treat.
  •  Substitute traditional dishes with healthier options that appear the same. Examples include mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes or spaghetti squash to replace regular pasta.
  • Add healthier substitutes in a dish that looks similar. Try adding squash to macaroni and cheese, chopped vegetables in meatballs, or making chocolate pudding with banana, avocado, cocoa powder, and vanilla!

Lastly, get your kids involved in the kitchen! Letting children help in meal preparation can motivate them to eat the dish they helped create.

  • Mother and daughter shopping for fruit.It begins at the grocery store – Consider bringing kids along and let them help you pick the produce they find most appealing.
  • Encourage your child to find a recipe they want to make, which includes a fruit or vegetable, and make it together.
  • Give your child age-appropriate tasks during meal prep such as washing the produce, mixing ingredients, and setting the table!

Check out the Ohio State University Extension Office’s Nutrition page for information about additional activities, classes, and education. Incorporating these fun, simple ideas into your child’s routine can help them develop lifelong healthy habits which prevent the onset of conditions related to obesity. Teaching our children how to practice these lifestyle changes can impact this generation, and generations to come!

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html

The Harvard Gazette: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/11/harvard-study-pinpoints-alarming-obesity-trends/

About the Author: Olyvia Norton is a senior student in the Nutrition and Food Science, Dietetics program at Middle Tennessee State University. Her interests are in clinical nutrition, specifically pediatric nutrition and nutrition support. She serves as the President of the Students of Tennessee Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is an active member of the Nutrition and Dietetics Association at Middle Tennessee State University and works as a dietitian’s assistant in Middle Tennessee for patients with special needs. Olyvia also enjoys serving on medical mission teams outside of the United States to bring better nutrition to underserved populations in developing countries.

Reviewer: Lisa Barlage, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Ross County, barlage.7@osu.edu.

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Kids in the Kitchen: It’s More Than Making a Mess

Posted in Healthy People, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2019| 1 Comment »

child cracking an egg
child helping cook

child helping cook
child cracking an egg

Recently I came across a statistic that startled me: Many youth today are up to two generations away from households where healthy food is prepared from fresh ingredients. We’re cooking and eating at home less and less. Only about 60% of dinners eaten at home are actually cooked there.

This makes food preparation and nutrition education important to our next generation’s health.  In order for youth to make informed, healthy decisions about their food, they need to have skills and knowledge about nutrition and food. Teaching kids to cook isn’t just passing on useful information they will use to feed themselves later on it also builds math, science, literacy and fine motor skills.

Dinner time is often one of the busiest times every day at my house. Teaching cooking skills and having nutrition discussions with my kids is on the back burner or forgotten in the chaos of the evening. Having a plan to pass on these skills can help make sharing them with your children and teens a priority.

Including your kids in meal planning is a good place to start.  Have children or youth choose a recipe that they are excited to try.  Help them make a list and shop for the ingredients at the store.  This teaches meal planning, a valuable lifelong skill and can build their enthusiasm for being in the kitchen.  As you grocery shop with your child consider explaining to them why you make some of the choices you do.  Talk to them about how and why to compare prices, use coupons or why you choose some brands and sizes over others.

Keep in mind cooking is a skill that increases with experience.  If a recipe with a lot of steps or ingredients feels intimidating for your new chef consider having them start with a side dish or a simple dessert.  Building confidence is part of gaining skills. Keep in mind that not every recipe may turn out successfully.  There’s growth and learning in failure too.  Talk with your child about what went wrong, and what could be done differently next time.

If your child isn’t ready to tackle a recipe on their own, invite them to join you in the cooking process by reading the recipe to you as you prepare food.  This involves them in part of the cooking process and teaches them how to read and follow a recipe.  As they learn to follow a recipe have them participate in other parts of the process such as gathering ingredients, being an assistant chef, setting the table or serving food.

Allow some space and time to play in the kitchen.  Some ideas might include: helping your child with a food science experiment, encouraging your child to create a food dish without a recipe, or experiment with different textures and taste combinations with some of your favorite recipes.

Keep in mind this process will be messy! However, it’s all part of the learning process and will get better with time.  Be prepared to talk about and demonstrate the skills you are wanting them to learn. The important thing to remember is to invite your kids in the kitchen with you in any way. Help them build a lifelong skill; it’s never too late to start.

Author: Alisha Barton, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension – Miami County, barton.345@osu.edu

Reviewed By: Amanda Bohlen, Family and Consumer Science Educator, Ohio State University Extension- Washington County, bohlen.19@osu.edu

Sources:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2015). Teaching Kids to Cook. https://www.eatright.org/homefoodsafety/four-steps/cook/teaching-kids-to-cook

Center for Nutrition Studies (2017). Cooking at Every Age, Why Kids Should Learn to Cook. https://nutritionstudies.org/cooking-at-every-age-why-kids-should-learn-to-cook/

eXtension (2017).Cooking with Kids in Schools: Why it is Important. https://www.eatright.org/homefoodsafety/four-steps/cook/teaching-kids-to-cook

 

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