Health foods for home students are about to begin

Friday, September 4, 2020 (American Heart Association News)-You are about to work. Your child is trying to learn online. Everyone wants to eat something. And you have lost your mind.

Experts say one ingredient can make all the difference in this situation.

Grace.

“This is no easy task,” said Caree Cotwright, assistant professor of food and nutrition at the University of Georgia at Athens. “There are a lot of plans between moms and dads to help kids stay on schedule and have something healthy with all the skills I have as a registered dietitian. And volley continues.”

Alexis Wood, an associate professor of pediatric nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, agreed. “Parental stress and guilt don’t help at all,” she said. “If anything, it will get worse.”

Wood and Cotwright speak from both expertise and personal experience. Wood is the lead author of a recent American Heart Association report on how to help children develop a healthy diet, with a daughter (4) and a son (7). Understanding the diet has never been easier.

When the pandemic started, she tried to do it all. She concentrated on the children all day until 3:30 pm and his boyfriend was able to take over and work. “Then I’ll cook dinner and try to serve it. Let the children sleep. Clean the house. Prepare homeschooling for the next day.” She worked it for a few weeks But it was burnt out.

Now, with a rigorous plan, everyone can go well. And she follows the advice in the report she helped write-it’s the best way to help kids develop their healthy eating habits such as keeping regular meal times Says to focus her energy on providing an environment that sets boundaries for secret foods and decides on child-friendly foods that her children can access.

Wood fights unhealthy snacks by limiting the grocery list. Then she has her child choose from the healthy options that make it home. Keeping primarily healthy food at home allows children to “work” by choosing and providing food, which has released some of her responsibilities. Dinner time looks different than it was before the pandemic, but she says, “To the kids, not only do you mind having random food on the table, but they really love it.” I learned.

One hopeless night, Wood prepared the remaining chicken, fruit, cheese, and whole-grain bread to help the children make their own plates. “And they thought it was the best.”

Cotwright has daughters who are 6, 4, and 2 years old. When creating a shopping list, she asks her which fruits she likes. Those are the treats this week.

But Cotwright, who wrote about how daycare providers encourage healthy eating, said it is important to have realistic expectations for a healthy diet.

In the early days of lockdown, she needed to adjust her approach when she needed to cook a hearty breakfast every day. By 10am, her girl still wanted a snack.

She realized, “There is no way I can keep doing this.” So she asked the children what they liked. Currently, breakfast may include low-fat milk or whole grains with boiled eggs.

Kotlite said planning can reduce the stress of preparing food. Monday may be suitable for weekend leftovers. Tuesday is always Tacos Tuesday. “My kids love it. My kids eat it. It doesn’t take me a long time.” And she doesn’t have to stress about coming up with ideas.

She also cooks whenever her schedule allows. “Eating at 6 o’clock does not mean you need to cook at 5:30.”

For drinks, each daughter has her own water bottle. “I cut lemons and limes. They can do it if they want to put them in. If they don’t, they don’t have to. But they can use water all day long. It sucks out of the bottle, which saves money because I didn’t wash a lot of cups.”

Dr. April Spencer, a practitioner in Atlanta, is the primary caregiver for Taylor 10 and Thailand 8. Kids will suggest snack ideas. With fruit, cheese and protein. (You can see an example on Spencer’s Instagram feed.)

Are you leaving your choice to the child?

“Not really,” said Taylor, a confident fifth grader.

“I miss the school lunch because there are so many options,” she admitted. “But I like school at home, because I can go to the fridge or pantry to get my favorite snacks.” She especially likes the vegetable burgers her mother makes for lunch.

Family success fits well with the advice of Wood experts.

“In a nutshell, the goal is to try to control the environment, but not a child.”

And she added: “cut yourself some slack.”