The food on my plate got healthier once I got pregnant (or as much as it could around all the aversions and cravings), and my diet maintained while I nursed. There was definitely room for improvement, and as I mashed bananas and studied labels of stage one and stage two snacks, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for our whole family to eat better.
We're not perfect. We have popsicles in the freezer and are slowly but surely making our way through too much Easter candy. But we choose organics as often as we can, do our very best not to consume any high fructose corn syrup, get excited about superfoods like quinoa, and are working very hard on eating a lot more vegetables. In each of the four years since I introduced my son to solid foods, we've acquired more and more healthy eating habits in our home.
I know I don't have complete control over how my child eats -- he goes through the drive-thru with his dad and loads up on juice boxes and Cheetos at playdates and begs for fruit snacks loaded with gunky stuff. I'm OK with that because I know he not only has good stuff to eat here, he also has good modeling. And I admit that it helps me through some of my own weak moments to think, "Do I really want my kid walking in on me with my face in this bag of chips?"
So, we're good. I will keep eating better and he will grow up to manifest the best of our nutritional attempts at health and wellness. Right?
Well, probably not. At least according to new study published in Social Science and Medicine surveying the eating habits of parents and children.
The "nationally representative sample" of 2,291 parents (aged 20 to 65-years old) and 2,692 children (aged 2 to 18-years old) did not find a significant relationship between the carbohydrates and fats the parents and children consumed. That is, the kids are not eating the same as their parents, even when the parents' education and socioeconomic status are factored in.
One author of the study commented, "This suggests that parents don’t play as large a role as people have thought in their children’s diet."
I have to admit, this study worries me. And not because I have visions of my child filling his precious little organs full of trans fats and pesticides.
What concerns me is that many parents are not eating well in front of their kids. In fact, that same researcher seemed to have the same interpretation, saying pretty pointedly, "Most parents are not doing as good a job as they should.”
It also concerns me that parents will read a study like this one and give up the healthy eating habits they have. With the pinch of the economy, the extra time it may take to make a burger instead of stock up on fast food, and the extra energy it may take to read labels, make meal plans, and be more conscientious, it would be easy to chuck it all and feed the family the easy, cheap (and often, still yummy) stuff. I fear that the healthy stuff may not seem worth it, that some kind of exhausted logic will take over.
The study suggests that children become more influenced by their peers as they get older. This makes sense. Once children can choose where to buy their lunch or are raiding refrigerators late at night or in charge of fixing their own dinner, of course they are not going to do a quick mental count of how many servings of veggies they've had before deciding on a pizza topping.
But what if those kids get to that point in their life and they have no understanding at all about how to fuel their bodies for soccer practice or study sessions or just growing? What if they eat all that junk with their friends and then come home and sit down to a dinner of food that's just as unhealthy as what they've been eating all day? Don't we have enough families in this country who are all candidates for heart disease or refrigerator make-overs or "The Biggest Loser"?
I believe that a lot of families do not eat healthfully because the parents do not have the information or resources or guidance that they need. And let's face it, it's hard.
I also believe that it is worth it. Even if our kids end up being the Burger Kings themselves, even if we can only take on a few simple healthy eating habits, isn't the message that our bodies and our wellness are worth the time and money and effort invaluable?
We don't have to be perfect, but I do think we have to try. So that one day, when our kids come home from college with bellies full of beer and Ramen Noodles and Twinkies, we can be assured that we can fill a plate for them and for ourselves full of the good stuff. So that one day, when they are making dinner for their own family, they at least remember what it's like to share a nutritious meal with the people they love.
How much influence do you think you have on your children's eating habits?
Did you grow up in a family where eating healthy was a priority?
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[photo credit: Getty Images]
