Will Children Starve Themselves Instead of Eating Healthy Food?

image via naturemoms.com

A friend recently asked me what do you do if your kids just won't eat the healthy food. I thought about this for a while. I thought about how it has taken time for my tastes to change and truly appreciate and desire a nutrient-rich plant-based diet instead of the highly processed nutritionally bankrupt food I used to eat. If it took time for my tastes to change then most likely it will take time for kids as well (duh, right?). If they used to eat the "standard" SAD diet for kids of chicken nuggets, fruit snacks (how they can even call these fruit is beyond me), fishy crackers, etc. then giving them healthy, nutrient dense food is a big change. An apple cannot compare to the gratification a person's brain gets from salt, fat, and sugar (fruit snacks!! Potato chips!! Granola bars!!) Processed foods usually contain lots of these "anti-nutrients" and they become highly rewarding to the brain when you eat them. For more information on this phenomenon read The End of Overeating by David Kessler.

The solution I came up with? Complete and total elimination of these unhealthy foods. After all, they are not contributing any meaningful nutrition just empty calories and harmful (salt, fat, and sugar) "anti-nutrients." If you quit cold-turkey and don't even have them as an option for your kids then eventually their tastes will change. BUT. If you offer healthy food and also "bad" food then guess which one your kid will pick (which one would you pick if you had no idea of the nutrition content?) You have to get those "foods" out of the house altogether and have them not even be an option.

But what if my kid doesn't eat the healthy food at all? I highly doubt the ability of anyone (especially a small child) to starve themself if there is ample food around. Have lots of fruits, veggies, healthy dips, nuts, seeds, whole wheat breads and tortillas, veggie pizzas, PB&J, applesauce, pearsauce, smoothies, brown rice, burritos, "quesadillas" (vegan cheese and beans on whole wheat tortillas), avocado toast, etc. to offer them and they will begin to eat it. If they see you eating it and that is all that is there then they will eat it.

Furthermore, they did studies on mice and they found that if they offered a low-calorie, highly nutrient dense diet that the mice actually lived longer then mice eating the same nutrient density but more calorie heavy diet. Basically, the only difference was the number of calories the mice ate each day. Guess which group of mice lived longer? The mice eating less calories! So, by my estimate, if your child is eating less calories but those calories are more nutritious (one stalk of broccoli instead of a plate of white refined pasta covered with butter and cheese) then they are actually better off! This is assuming all the nutrient and mineral needs are covered either through the diet or with a good multivitamin. If they eat half an orange instead of a cup of fruit loops they are way better off!

Your child might not eat as much whole wheat pizza as they used to eat of the refined, high fat kind....GOOD! That is the point! And if they are getting a healthy tomato sauce, whole wheat in the dough, and some fresh veggies on top then they are actually coming out way ahead of the kid that eats the pizza with refined dough, high fat sauce, and cheese. One child is consuming way more calories with far less nutrients. The other is getting less calories overall but those calories count big-time! Which child should have a healthier and longer life, according to the mouse study?

I think it is Chef AJ that coined one of my favorite new phrases, "If you aren't hungry enough to eat an apple then you aren't hungry!" The kids will eat. It is true that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, but if that horse is thirsty and all he has to drink is water then you can bet he will! However, if you offer the horse apple juice or water which one do you think he will drink? And who would ever give apple juice to a horse! How unhealthy! ;0P

Please let me know your thoughts on how to best get kids to eat a healthy diet. I am always looking for tips.

By the way, doesn't that bento box look delicious? Do you really think your child wouldn't eat something in there? What a delight for all the senses!