Kids in the Kitchen Leads to Healthy Eating

17th December 2007

Kids in the Kitchen Leads to Healthy Eating.

This time of year is a great opportunity to get kids into the kitchen, helping, assisting and being a part of the food preparation for the festivities.

It is important that kids have a healthy relationship with food, and for many parents there is less time to make this happen.

This is the message of the Small Fry authors Susie Cameron and Katrina Crook whose book celebrates cooking with kids and has been launched in New Zealand.

It was also recently nominated by Le Cordon Bleu as one of the four best kids cookbooks in the world

*We are firm believers that developing and nurturing a relationship early between young kids and food is one way to avoid the many eating problems like childhood obesity and fussy eating*, said co-author Susie Cameron.

*By having children included in choosing foods, and the preparing food there is a greater chance of them enjoying their food as they are part of the process.*

Children will, primarily, learn their eating habits from the people close to them. What they learn as children will impact on their health and nutrition habits for the rest of their lives.

The simple act of making sure children are well fed has become fraught with negotiating the minefield of fast food outlets, snack foods and knowing what is actually in the food we buy and whether it's good for the kids
Clever packaging and marketing seduce the busy parent in a busy world
*Sometimes it is easier to just give in. As a result so many children have no idea how to deal with food, where it comes from and what fun it can be,* continued Susie Cameron.

Early Childhood consultant Sue Cant who advised the authors on Small Fry points out that childhood nutrition has reached the national agenda of developed countries worldwide. There are higher rates of childhood obesity, food allergies and nutrition based illness than at any other time in history.

ENDS

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