2023-09-23 06:18:10
Marilou Thomas, nutritionist, regularly works with children. As part of a day organized by the French Handball Federation and its historic partner, Lidl, she advised them to listen to their bodies and sensations.
It is often said that health is in the plate, and this is undoubtedly even more true when it comes to children. Growing and facing busy days, 8-12 year olds need a healthy and balanced diet, which can be provided to them by following a few simple tips.
Balance rather than restriction
Although children must be taught that sugar and fat should be ingested in limited quantities, it is nevertheless counterproductive to prohibit anything according to Marilou Thomas, nutritionist.
“There are seven food families, the best thing is to respect the balance between these families,” she explains. For example, starchy foods and proteins will be dominant in the diet compared to sugar, but without there being any deprivation.”
The key to a balanced meal is generally to ensure that you always have the starch, protein and vegetable trio on the plate. When a child is reluctant to eat these, Marilou Thomas advises opting for recipes that are “more or less colorful or mixed, by offering purees for example. We can also try to use vegetables to decorate the plate and make it more attractive.
Listen to your appetite
When a healthy child is reluctant to eat, Marilou Thomas believes that we should not insist. “We often say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but some children are not hungry in the morning. In this case, we must listen to their appetite and not force them.”
The nutritionist says that eating well is above all “listening to your body and its sensations”. “If the child is hungry at 10 a.m., he will eat something on his own at that time.”
Involve the child in his diet
To learn to eat well, a child must become an actor in his own diet. Marilou Thomas encourages parents to empower young ones by making them cook or set the table. “It allows us to show them how a meal is prepared and to explain to them, in the situation, why they should eat that and avoid something else.”
To get the message across, the nutritionist advises using images. “I often compare anything starchy to the gasoline you put in a car because that’s what gives us energy, what makes us move forward,” she illustrates.
Counting the number of sugar cubes in their favorite sweets can also make it easier for them to understand why they can’t eat them unlimitedly. “It has a real visual impact,” comments the nutritionist, “in general, it’s what they remember the most during my workshops.”
Ban screens during meals
For children, but actually for adults too, it is imperative to eat in peace. Also, screens of all kinds are the enemies of dietary well-being.
Marilou Thomas assures that they have negative effects in relation to “sensations of hunger and satiety”. A child sitting in front of a screen “will not pay attention to what he is going to eat and will ingest everything that comes to hand, mechanically”.
Concentrated on what he is looking at, he will not listen to his body and will continue to eat “even though he may no longer be hungry,” she laments.
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