By Ali Khimji
‘Mum! What’s for dinner today?!’ is regularly heard shouted across homes just as the first hunger pangs are setting in.
However, a shock study has revealed that 6 out of 10 mothers do not regularly cook healthy meals for their children. Of this, half said that they would like to, but claimed time and money restrictions, as well as fussy children, prevented them from doing so.
Growing children need a wide range of nutritious food, and should be avoiding snacks that are rich in fat and sugars. Fruits and vegetables ought to form a staple part of their diet too.
Could the rise of fast food be the primary blame for the lack of healthy, home-cooked food? And could the absence of nutritious meals be preventing kids from reaching their potential in school and extra-curricular activities? That isn’t to say that we can’t always get the teenagers to indulge in a bit of cooking themselves…
What do you think? Should mothers be cooking the family meal, or are our adolescents responsible enough to know the importance of non-stick frying pans?
For information from the FSA on eating advice for children, see here (http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/children/). For the NHS’ website on educating children about healthy eating, see here (http://www.childrenfirst.nhs.uk/teens/health/healthy_eating/)
I think its really sad that mothers cannot or rather will not dedicate the time needed to feed their children / families a decent meal at least once a day. I admire women who are working either a part time or a full time job, but for me, the priority has to be the family first. Every child needs to feel that they are being well looked after even if it means being fed a proper nutrious meal once a day. Also, with regards to children learning how to cook… that indeed is a great skill to have as it stays with you into adulthood. However, I believe in order for that to happen, parents need to teach and encourage and motivate their children to learn to cook whilst they themselves are preparing the meals. Give children basic jobs like, peeling the onions / vegetables / baking etc. Prepare basic tasty meals so that kids will find it enjoyable as well. They will also feel a sense of pride knowing that they “helped” prepare and cook the family meals.