NUTRITION
How can you get your kids to stay away from chicken nuggets and jelly doughnuts?
Fussy behaviour and a child’s steely determination to rather eat nothing than eat veggies can lead parents to give in and let their child have chicken popcorn and vanilla cupcakes for dinner. That’s certainly easier than taming tantrums and managing meltdowns, or just letting them starve. But experts say what’s key is not just getting your kids to eat, it’s getting them to eat a variety of good foods and also help them be more open to trying new foods.
Obesity now dominates the national discussion on the child population’s health, and it’s a discussion that’s quite grim. Authorities estimate up to 40 per cent of children in the UAE are either overweight or obese. And it’s a figure that’s only on the rise.
And when you remember that habits learned early on follow kids throughout their life and shape their relationship with food, it’s easy to set off into an almost panic about how serious of a business feeding children is. A nutritious diet that’s fuel for all their boisterous activities and also helps them stay sharp and focused? No tiny challenge.
But besides choices such as chocolates and soft drinks that straightout get a bad rep, there’s also misleading foods that masquerade as healthy and harmless but really aren’t – often masking shocking levels of salt and sugar.
Navigating this minefield can be tricky for mums and dads. So we selected five different meal choices, from frozen nuggets to sugar-free yogurts, and took it to food professionals around the UAE for the truth on them. But fear not, we’ve also found out some alternatives for those items. Guaranteed to get them licking their plates clean...