This seems impossible if we think that the awareness and sensitivity towards food and attention to the quality of the food are now the primary needs of the consumer becoming social needs. Certifications of quality, traceability and typical food are thus requirements in all caterers protocols, thing that was unthinkable until the 80s.
The institutions, pediatricians and the school itself are strongly allied and involved in projects and programs on nutrition information with simple guidelines and easy to interpret.
The message of the Minister of Health is clear:
an unbalanced and wrong diet is one of the main risk factors for the development of chronic degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus type II.
The prevention of overweight and obesity should be started already in childhood through diet and a healthy lifestyle. An unbalanced diet, along with smoking, alcohol and sedentary lifestyle are the main risk factors for disease and so..why do we, as parents, often compromise at the expense of the quality of the food for our children?
Although we try to pay attention while doing the shopping, why do we often see our children more and more attracted to foods and beverages poor in nutritional intake?
Meanwhile, we must recognize that, on the one hand the consumer awareness to what we eat has increased, thanks to the labeling laws that require insiders to give clear and truthful information, on the other hand there are other factors of social transformation that strongly and adversely affect on the behavior and food choices.
The hectic lifestyle has meant that the proposals of ready food or foods "take away" are now in daily use at the expense of the use of fresh products such as vegetables, a valuable source of vitamins and minerals.
This has also impacted on the act of eating and the sacredness that once accompanied the meal time: the focus in the preparation, the care of the presentation of the food and especially the timing of consumption and the intimacy of the act of eating are lost slowly.
As well as the loss of the traditional rhythm of the meals (the guidelines talk about 5 meals: 3 main meals and 2 snacks for our children, with great importance to breakfast when energy intake is beneficial for undertaking school activities and gaming) ; the opportunities for instant consumption have multiplied: food and beverages are available, in every place, in every situation and season ...
Why it is necessary to bring with you a snack if you can find it ready in the pool, game room, library or gym?
Let's say the truth sometimes it is really comfortable to have something handy ready to eat ... and even though in our hearts we know that a slice of bread and jam, or the simple bread and olive oil, or a fresh fruit are preferable to any packaged food .. some compromises can really make easier the organization of the many daily activities ...
But be careful! Between package and package there is some difference!
Our children are attracted by the colors, forms, gadgets and surprises in the packages, we moms know it well and food companies know it even better ... and the proposals for these small customers are becoming more attractive, to say no now seems to have become impossible especially if we have been out all day and the tantrum at the park turn in 5D!
How i sit possible to not give up? ... Maybe just for once!
The solution can be to propose a good alternative, practical but also of quality.
Now the days when eating well often meant having to give up taste are gone.
The proposals of organic food are many, beautiful and finally good!
We have to not let our children be absorbed by advertising and fashions at all costs ...
We can reverse the trend and make the organic snack handy, so that the snack is tasty but prepared with quality organic ingredients, with no GMOs, no hydrogenated fats and also nutritionally balanced even with a significant amount of fiber , or with a limited fat content, of course, always integrated to a rich and varied diet of fresh foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.
Educating our children for a proper and healthy diet means investing in their well-being and instilling healthy habits in them; it means to provide a heritage that may be drawn once they become adults; therefore let’s encourage our children and why not? also their friends, to taste, to chew food slowly at regular times and not at any time of the day, looking for a quiet place to sit down, calmly, preferably outdoors; let’s make sure that the colors that will attract them will be those of the sky, a beautiful lawn or a nice drawing and the gadget our smile and it will be the most delicious snack in the world!
And if you explain to them that this snack is also good for nature, and thus to giraffes, hippos, lions, horses and mermaids ... surely they will ask for more!
