Schools have reopened and Break fast and Lunch are an issue. As working mother, I am balancing the taste buds of my son thru packaged foods. Am I doing the right thing? Uma Devi, parent of Navadisha Montessori School, Chennai, wants to know of any alternatives.
View from another parents:
Jaya, a parent of Vani Vidyalaya Senior Secondary & Junior College, West K K Nagar, Chennai.
Yes thats true! It will be good if they include a good quality lunch also in the calendar!
Vidya Natarajan, a parent of APL Global School, Thoraipakkam, Chennai
Possible solution: Tasty and healthy food: packaged or otherwise
Thank you for sharing your concern on Yokibu, so that more parents can also see that they are not alone in taking on these situations.
In my experience, its fine to cater to taste buds. One should be able to relish and enjoy what one eats.
After all the taste buds are also the gatekeepers, food has to pass through, though not the best guards of nutrition. In kids, needs for food keep changing and yes, the buds do give a clear indiation of their actual needs, provided we don’t all the time we don’t force feed. Sometimes they want only carbs, another day they prefer veggies. Sometimes they relish one food, which they don’t at another time.
Coming to packaged foods, its fine to use them as long s they are mostly the nourishing type, like whole grain cookies,dry fruit/grain bars or cakes, fruit/veg juices,mixture of nuts and fruits, whole grain buns, cheese crackers, flavoured milik, soymilk, without chemical additives and added sugars. Once in a while, its fine also to let the kid, have his/her pick on packaged junky food.
We, as parents, can gently and firmly maintain in the right mix of foods, the moderation and balance. Yes it can be done easier than it is to think about it.
Sophia Sindhu, a parent of St Joseph’s Boys’ High School, Museum Road, Bangalore
This is with regard to Ms Uma Devi’s query as to whether packaged foods can be packed for kids as she is a working woman…!!! My sincere advice is big “NO” Though the package foods might make the kids feel tasty,
on the long run, it can definitely do harm to the little bodies…! why cant we spare a little more time in the kitchen to prepare something innovative, tasty and delecious with little extra effort. Instead of the norma bread n butter or bread n jam, why not try the tricolour sandwich with bread, pudina chutney and onion chutney…this makes an interesting lunch box even for the child.Instead of chapathi n pallya, try with chapathi n choco spread and make chapathi rolls, also can be tried with bread. Make simple fried rice with scrambled egg added with little garam masala for taste n mixed with rice….
Rashma shiv, a parent of JSS Public School, Bangalore.
Hi uma devi,
I am mother of 4yrs old kid, I understand ur problom as i also face the same, but what i suggest is y dont u try fruits and what i do is i make few ladoos in week end like moog dal etc. cerials etc. coz childs immunity goes down on long run of this packaged food.
Radhika Satish, a parent of Shri Balaji International School (ICSE), Malad (West), Mumbai
Try making different varieties of sandwiches and make them presentable. Children like things which looks good.
Small idlis with carrot on top also makes a good choice of breakfast. Uttapas also with carrot and beetroot (grated) is a good choice.
How do you manage break fast and lunch for your kids? Write your comments below:
Comments (5)
Leave a Comment
Disclaimer: The information contained within this website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for obtaining advice from professional experts. The ideas and views expressed here are all from the authors of the content and not from Yokibu. Please seek assistance from professional experts for your specific needs.
my kids do not take processed food to school,neither do they like fruits or chutney sandwiches.i have to pack same type of food every week- home made ofcourse.they dont like innovations.my younger son hates the sight of carrots .when i tell my elder son to have a banana all he does is sit with it but not eat it.how do i get to make them eat fruits?both like biscuits ,are biscuits also unhealthy???
As a doctor I would say No to packaged foods. Even the so called nutritious ones have a lot of other ingredients which are best avoided. The companies marketing them just point out a few good ingredients omitting the rest. All packaged foods have a lot of added sugar/ salt which is more than the daily allowance in addition to flavours and preservatives. Do you know that there is about 2tsp sugar in one tbsp of tomato sauce? what is marketed is that sauce has a lot of lycopene and calcium from tomatoes. The story is the same for breakfast cereals….sucrose, corn syrup , glucose , maltose, fructose syrup are all various forms of sugar….in short we are unknowingly overloading our systems with sugar and salt.The need of the hour is awareness in parents and educating our kids about the importance of nutrition.
Good article
Hi Parents,
I have understood the difficulties that a Parent (specially Mother) faces as to what Breakfast should be given for their Child’s Tiffin Box, as I am a Parent to two boys.
My advice to all the Parents is that please avoid Processed and Packaged Food for your child, as a child is in the developing stage and your child needs adequate and proper nutrition & nutrients for its healthy and better development.
A question to all you Parents:
Even though all Families are having good food at home, but we have seen that there are some big or small health challenges in all the families viz. Diabetes, Heart Problem, Blood Pressure, Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Psoriasis, Hair Fall, Knee Joint Pains, Obesity, etc. & with regards to Children: Regularly rushing to the Doctor with Cold, Cough & Fever, Diabetes, Asthma, Fussy eating habits, demanding junk food, not eating fruits and vegetables, gaining more weight then their age, not gaining height as per age. Where a child needs to visit the doctor for not more than 4-5 times a year, children are taken to the doctor 4-5 times a month. Just think about it Parents, why all this is happening and is it necessary that these health challenges be a part of our family??????????????
I practice giving atleast 7 servings of fruits and vegetables alongwith channas, sprouts, cereals, beans and small qtys of nuts.
I am able to advice these things to our children because I am a Health Expert and my wife is a Qualified Nutritionist (Certified and Qualified from USA).
If there is anyone who sincerely interested in knowing more can surely contact us for a FREE consultation and FREE advice.
My contact number is 9930568154. Manish C.Gandhi
For all the parents who choose packaged food for their child. Please spend few minutes to read the article given in the below link.
http://yokibu.com/communityspeak/?p=578