BRAIN FUEL

Child Development and Teaching Healthy Nutrition

By Joshua Duke

My family has a running joke that whenever we get together, we have two conversations: “What are we eating?” and “What are we eating next?” I’m sure we’re not the only ones; food is so much more than just a necessity. It’s a cornerstone of culture, a mechanism to bring people together, a pleasurable experience in its own right, and a common denominator in a time too often marked by division.

The great thing about food—and can you tell that I fancy myself something of a gourmet?—is that a good meal does not need to be elaborate or expensive. No matter how good, it is a source of fuel for your body. Yes, a luxury seven course meal is like a work of art, but one that keeps your body functioning properly, which is why, if you ask me, food is the superior art form. Have you ever tried taking a bite out of the Mona Lisa? It tastes oily!

In all seriousness, food has taken on a new dimension for me. This year, my wife and I welcomed our son into this world, and like most new parents, we want to make sure he has the very best, which includes the food he’s putting into his body. After all, the food we eat directly impacts the way we grow and develop. To learn more, I turned to Jennifer Farrell, RD, program director for the Didactic Program in Dietetics.

Building Healthy Choices

Farrell specializes in child nutrition. Through her experience and practice, she has concluded that children are born with an innate desire to seek out healthy food. However, outside factors such as society and our surroundings influence natural decision-making and can interfere with a child’s development. Farrell wants to spread ways in which parents and caregivers can teach children how to make healthy food decisions.

Healthy food is one of those concepts that people often misunderstand, due in part to our diet-obsessed culture. Farrell explains that it takes a well-rounded diet to truly promote good health, especially for children. “Your body needs calories, and it gets them from three different sources: proteins, fat, and carbohydrates.” She likens these three groups to the materials needed to build a strong house.

Jennifer Farrell

“Then there are your micronutrients, and those are your screws, your nails, your nuts, your bolts. You’ve got to have all of it. You could be heavy on one, but if you’re missing another piece, you’re still looking at malnutrition.”

For example, Farrell says that iron is a common missing piece in a young child’s diet, especially in America. Iron enables the body’s blood to carry oxygen, and evidence suggests that an iron deficiency can decrease cognitive function in children.

In other words, the house becomes a bit more wobbly.

To address these concerns, school lunch programs have started preparing meals that promote an iron-rich diet. For even younger children, manufacturers added iron to rice cereal, which parents commonly introduce to their babies as a first solid food. Vegetables like spinach and animal products are also high in iron, but as most parents know, getting a child to eat their vegetables can be tricky for picky young eaters.

Farrell has advice for these discerning palates, and it starts with the environment. “The caregiver provides the food, they determine what they’re going to serve, when they’re going to serve it, and where they’re going to serve it.” Children can then decide how much they want to eat in this healthy meal space. The trick is to avoid encouraging—or perhaps more aptly, pressuring—a child to eat. “Instead, you just make sure that you consistently provide healthy meal options with variety, but always give them at least one thing they like.”

This plan exposes children to healthy food while removing the pressure to eat it. “Kids are going to feel free to explore. They’re going to try different foods and hopefully start to like different foods.”

Food for Thought

For parents interested in promoting healthy eating, Farrell has some advice:

On introducing new foods

“When you first introduce foods, I think one of the most concerning things is that we’re so sure that we need to get our kids to eat one more bite, one more bite. But the kids are learning! To them, food is new. It feels cool. It looks cool. It may taste cool, but they’re still getting a lot of nutrients from formula or breast milk, so as you introduce foods, again, no pressure.

Just let them make a mess. Strip them down to their diaper! I love those cute pictures of babies with their bib on and their cute little dresses, but after you get the pictures, strip them down. They’re going to eat like four spoonfuls, right? One of them is going to end up in their hair, one’s going in their ear. Then, as they get older, you keep that non-pressure. You say, ‘here’s what you’ve got to eat. Here are your options,’ and then you just keep exposing them to those healthy foods.”

On different perspectives about food

“For parents, food is money, and it’s time, and it’s love. That’s what you do—you feed people you love, and you make them your favorite foods. But kids don’t see any of that. They don’t have any connections. When they don’t want something, it’s not personal, and oftentimes it’s one of the few times during the day they can show their autonomy. They don’t control a whole lot in their life, but controlling what goes in their mouth is absolutely one of the few things. You cannot force feed a kid.

So maybe let them wear that princess dress to school that day, and then maybe they’re going to feel like they’ve got that autonomy that they can try new things. It’s hard because arguments often are about that last bite of green beans. It’s like, ‘Eat your green beans. Okay, one more bite of green beans. Just one bite! Okay, fine, just one green bean.’ And now you’ve had a whole fight, and really what did one green bean do for their nutrition?”

On the mechanics of eating

“Kids need textures. Chewing and textures help them with their development of their tongue, their tongue movement, and jaw movement.”

On kids refusing to eat

“Some days, they’re not going to eat anything, and that’s okay because their little bodies might not be going through a growth spurt, so their bodies aren’t hungry. And then in three days, they eat everything that stands still, and you can’t believe how much they’re eating. Some parents get worried, and they try and back them down, but in fact, that’s their little bodies saying they’re about to hit a growth spurt. Their hunger is nowhere near as consistent as an adult’s.”

On talking to children about healthy eating and weight

“I think it’s important to talk about healthy foods that are good for your body, but not so much in the context of foods that are good for your weight. You can always talk about a food that does something for your body that’s not about weight. Protein is for muscles, amino acids for your neurotransmitters, iron for your blood, calcium for your bones.

Then, I think the most important conversations are the ones that aren’t had at the dinner table—as in your kids should never hear you discuss your own weight, or the fact that you can’t wear this outfit because you’re too fat, or that you need to hit the gym because you’re getting fatter. Kids hear those conversations and internalize those ideas. So, even if you’re feeling insecure, you still put on that bathing suit and you head to the beach with them. You can rephrase some of these ideas. It’s the context. You can say I’m going to the gym because I want to keep in shape. I want to live longer. I want to be able to lift more weight, run farther.”

On different body shapes and body positivity

“I think that we should always eat for health. Our actions and habits may not be reflected in our body size and shape. Somebody’s body may be a bigger body, but their diet and exercise routines may be right on. It’s very true that not every body responds the same way. Some kids, they’re going to eat healthy, and they’re going to exercise, and they’re always going to be in a bigger body. I love the body positivity movement and the diversity to show that kids can be all different sizes and shapes.”

On managing junk food and treats

“Food is not a reward. Granted, I’ve broken that rule myself—I’ve got two kids, and if they’re good at Publix, they sometimes get a cookie by the end. But the idea is that if you want that sweet, you go for it, and you have it. You give yourself permission to eat it and enjoy it, and then you move on, as opposed to thinking about how terrible it is the entire time you’re eating it. It’s okay to raise kids around sweets. The idea is you teach them that it’s not the healthiest option, that you shouldn’t be eating them all the time, but if you’re going to have it, go ahead and enjoy it. Research shows that parents who restrict their kids’ food— particularly with sweets—actually eat more because they want more, they know it’s going to be restricted.”

On preparing children to make healthy decisions

“If you can keep the conversation and relationship at home healthy in terms of letting kids know to listen to their bodies, if that groundwork is laid, you just have to have faith. Even if they end up eating ice cream every day for a week for lunch in middle school, you have to have faith that eventually they’re going to right that.”

Growing the Profession

Farrell is clearly passionate about her work, especially when it comes to helping families and children understand health. This specialization grew out of her academic background. Initially, she wanted to work in a health field but was unsure exactly which. Like many students who pursue a career in health, she began her studies with biology, but after a while, she realized the classes weren’t holding her interest. She decided to change her major to physiology, and in her Science of Nutrition class, she discovered dietetics. The field of nutrition interested her so much, she decided to double major in both physiology and nutrition. At the same time, she knew she wanted to work with children, so she earned her minor in child development.

It’s a story she often shares with her Introduction to Dietetics students to illustrate the multitude of ways students can work in the health profession. And the impact of dieticians is steadily growing. Farrell says that the role of a dietician has evolved in recent years as experts weigh the role of food on a person’s overall health. Now, students who graduate from her program are finding great job opportunities everywhere, from clinical settings and hospitals to sports teams and schools. Wherever her students end up, they will help spread Farrell’s healthy outlook on food.