Childrens Nutrition

Thank goodness we do not live in a black and white world, how bland and drab life would be! Colour brightens our life and more importantly keeps us safe and well. Colour guides us to choose the freshest healthiest foods to eat,when fruit and vegetables glow bright with freshness and vivid colour they not only attract us they also stimulate our digestive juices, in a black and white world we would never see the lack lustre dull colour signifying past its sale by date as the flesh looses its shine of health and freshness, the green mould on bread or brown bruises seen on fruit past its sell by date even the green on meat. Colour is vital to our well being, happiness and survival.

Children love colour - colourful food is no exception. If their plates are bursting with fresh coloured goodness, they will usually demolish every mouthful. Meal times can be a mouth-watering display of colour to delight and appeal to their every sense.

Be creative - use as many colours in each meal as possible and involve toddlers and children in the preparation of food, children love to be involved and are far more savvy than we give them credit, left to their own devices they will choose healthy options. Let them choose the colours they are drawn to.The more involved children are in the preperation of their food the more likely they will want to eat it. We are told to eat five a day and to choose from a variety of different coloured foods, children will naturally do this when encouraged to make their own choices and especially if they feel involved n the whole choosing, preparing and cooking process, great fun can be had in the kitchen by parent and child. The kitchen can be the first bonding area for parent and child.

Childrens natural state is to be happy, healthy and living in wonderment of each day. Lets allow them to reach their full potential by feeding them colourful and natural food with as few additives as possible, we need to consider getting back to basics and growing a few items ourselves, a simple herb garden or raised salad garden is simple and easy to prepare, tomatoes grow in anything almost, dont throw those wellies away, fill them with compost and plant a tomato plant in each one, hang the wellies onto the fence to keep them away from sllugs and snails yet within your childs reach for watering,a wellie display can look great along the fence, bright and happy. Try lettuce and cucumbers aswell as they are also easy to grow, almost any container will hold small plants that will be bountiful in their harvest, the glee when children pick their harvest for the first time is well worth the initial set up effort in getting started, and with a selection of home grown foods to sample, fussy eaters will be a thing of the past!    The fun and closeness brought about by educating children on how food grows, where food comes from to picking and preparing fresh produce daily and cooking simple but delicious and vitamin packed meals together the whole family can enjoy is such fun and we all know that a healthy child is a happy child.

As the new going out is now staying in we are turning more and more to preparing our own food with home cooking being very hip, we all like to think we are just as good in the kitchen as any one of the many celebrity chefs, which is all good news for family life and getting us back to basics, time with parent is a treasured time, happy memories shared growing, cooking and eating spent in the garden and  kitchen is very special and an important building block in a childs formative years.

Read the best selling book on colour - Colours of the Soul by June McLeod -  Colours of the Soul founder.