A third of children aged between 2 and 15 are either overweight or obese according to the “Plan for Action” policy by the UK Government.
I’m going to let that sink in for a minute......... A THIRD!
And its rising........
Now we can point fingers at the big bad marketing machine of the food industry or blame the high amount of sugar being pumped into soft drinks. Maybe we can blame the schools for not providing nutritionally acceptable options or the supermarkets for tempting us as we go about our weekly (or daily) food shop.
But lets just take a step back and stop playing the blame game for a minute.
Who are THE ONE group of people who hold the most influence?
WE DO....the parents!
The only way we can make an impact, a serious impact on the health of our kids is take responsibility ourselves and turn it into action.
Sounds fine in practice and I can hear the outburst of despair as I type this...
“We’re too busy”
“We both work long hours”
“I’m always rushing the kids from one place to another”
“I’m not a very good cook”
“The kids always pester me when we go shopping, so I buy the stuff they like”
“I can’t control what they eat when I’m not there”
“A few sweets and a take away here and there won’t hurt them”
“But my kids are fussy and picky with their food”
I’m sure we could go on and on....
Now I’m not here to lecture you, and with two kids myself I can completely empathise with all of you reading this article when it comes to being busy or having fussy eaters, but two things remain constant whether we like it or not.
The responsibility is ours
........and nothing will change without action
So now I’ve blamed you for all the problems under the sun, here’s a few ideas and suggestions I've found helpful to make the best use of your and feed those demanding souls that we love so much....
1. Plan Your Food for the Week
As boring as it sounds you MUST provide yourself with some structure, otherwise you’ll be doomed to a “hit and miss” approach to your meal preparation, failing at the point when you most need it.
So think about each day
What will you have for breakfast? How much time do you all have in the morning? Do you need to prepare anything the night before?
Personally I like to keep things simple when time is tight......some chopped up fruit, a couple of spoons of greek yoghurt and a sprinkle of home made granola (made at the weekend).
Now take the same approach to the rest of the week. Think about what’s going on and how much time you’ll have available....will you have time to eat early or do you need to carry some snacks to keep the kids going through activities?
You can get the kids to help you with this part. Ask what they want to eat from a selection of recipes you’ve already dug out.
Stick the list on the fridge as a reminder....
2. Use Time Saving Tools
Why drag yourself all around the supermarket with the kids when you can order online?
You’ve done your menu, posted it on the fridge and written out your shopping list. Make life easy for yourself and have someone bring it to you!
I’d also recommend using a slow cooker where you can. Before going to bed throw all the ingredients you need into the cooker, switch on and leave. By the time you get up, dinner is ready.
3. Make More, Cook Less
You know for a fact that you’ll be eating that lasagna again in a couple of weeks, so why not double up on the quantities and batch cook a large amount? Then you can portion it up and stick it in the freezer.
In fact do this for a couple of weeks and you’ll probably not have to lift a finger in the kitchen for a while!
I strongly advise you do this with some home made snack bars and treats for those “I’m hungry” mid morning moments.
4. Create Your Own Super-Parent Team
Ok, so this one may be right out of left field but hear me out......
Talk to other parents and see how they overcome the challenges of feeding their kids when short of time/budget. I still love those moments when the boys get to go to their friends houses for dinner.....one meal less to do!
So lets say you team up with two other parents and, using the magic of batch cooking, you prepare enough for everyone. Once done you all exchange dishes and that's the meals for the next couple of days done.
5. The Emergency Plan
Things go wrong from time to time...
Maybe you’ve ran out of prepared meals or the shopping didn’t arrive. Perhaps the kids have last minute events or there’s extra guests that need feeding. The point is this....always have a back up plan.
In the past my own emergency plan consisted of driving to the nearest Tesco, filling up a couple of large salad boxes and grabbing a ready cooked chicken.....problem solved!
That may not specifically work for you but you get the idea. Come up with a back up plan and, if necessary. write it down on your smartphone notepad......or lastly there's that fully stocked freezer from all your batch cooking!
6. Education & Research
Understand why you’re taking the action you are, and seek out help wherever you can. There are some great resources to be found online (also a load of rubbish too) and don’t forget good old books!
I regularly use cookbooks from Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson as well as my own and others I’ve collected over the years, I even find the Good Food app pretty useful. However I still find that the quickest way for a solution is just type the kind of recipe you want into Google and see if you can adapt it.
7. The Most Important Part.....
Lastly we come to the most important part, without which nothing happens...
You must....TAKE ACTION!
All the knowledge and preparation in the world won’t help if you fail to take action and put all these things into practice.
In the end we’ll never be able to watch every morsel our kids eat, and that's not the point. We simply want to set the example, pass on cooking and life skills no matter how small, create a balance and enjoy life that little bit more.....especially that pizza on the weekend!