I was very honored to be able to speak at Beth Israel Medical Center’s tonight with Geri Brewster, a nutritionist who “is known to change lives, not just diets.” Dr. Asma Sadiq, a developmental pediatrician, with an interest in holistic treatment of children with developmental issues, also spoke briefly to welcome everyone. Geri’s high tech Prezi-tation on “How Food Influences Behavior in Children; Keeping Your Child’s Immune System Strong” is now on her updated website geribrewster.com. On Prezi, you have to keep clicking the play button to change slides–and there is even a funny youtube video. (an aside…We are all quite impressed with the transformation of your website, Geri, the makeover is quite a dramatic shift from the picture of the office waiting room that is imprinted in my mind.)
The same friend who gave me my favorite Eat More Kale shirt was there, which was a super nice show of support, and we were discussing how you always learn something even when you are hearing a lecture on something you already know. Here is what I learned:
If your kids won’t eat something, try pairing it with something they like quite a lot. For instance, if they won’t eat eggs, but they LOVE cinnamon sugar, try offering them some cinnamon sugar on their eggs. Or if they hate carrots but they love honey, try offering them a little honey to sweeten up their not so exciting carrots.
Also, if your child has an allergy to Latex they might also be sensitive to: avocados, bananas, chestnuts, plums, pencils, berries, potatoes and kiwi because the proteins are similar.
On my way out to speak to speak about nutrition, I left my kids with some gluten free Applegate Farms chicken nuggets and a snack tray filled with cucumbers, carrots and dehydrated strawberries. Apparently, it was quite a hit with the kids. I had included the snack tray idea in my lecture so I was inspired to make it after dragging the picture into my power point presentation. The babysitter said she had never seen my son eat so much. And then he went on to eat raspberries after the snack tray. I felt a little guilty not providing a homemade dinner. It’s not that they never eat this type of food. It just seemed a little ironic to be too busy speaking about the importance of nutrition for children to actually feed them a nutritious dinner.
Anyway, if you have to serve your kids chicken nuggets and don’t have time for a home cooked dinner, try the snack tray as a way to offset the processed food. The funny thing is my son has never actually liked chicken. Usually he runs screaming from the table if chicken is anywhere near. Which makes me wonder what is in their secret recipe. Of course, I am always suspicious if I see “Spices” and “Spice Extractives” which both scream MSG or “we are hiding something.” It sounds like he ate enough chicken nuggets to make it an official “chicken nugget challenge” so I will wait and see if there is any fallout from the mystery “spices.” Well, if it is MSG, it is one more thing my son is not reacting to, which is a real cause for celebration–time for another bowl of KALE!
Related posts:
The Dangers of Processed Food
Pasta with Kale, Raisins and Toasted Pine Nuts
Cannon and Kassie - Kirsten I was so sad that I couldn't go last night! I had school, but I did pass it on to our mom group and a couple ladies said they were going to go, so hopefully they did. It sounds like it went well. xo