The family meal

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From the course by Stanford University

Child Nutrition and Cooking

4584 ratings

Stanford University

Child Nutrition and Cooking

4584 ratings

Eating patterns that begin in childhood affect health and well-being across the lifespan. The culture of eating has changed significantly in recent decades, especially in parts of the world where processed foods dominate our dietary intake. This course examines contemporary child nutrition and the impact of the individual decisions made by each family. The health risks associated with obesity in childhood are also discussed. Participants will learn what constitutes a healthy diet for children and adults and how to prepare simple, delicious foods aimed at inspiring a lifelong celebration of easy home-cooked meals. This course will help prepare participants to be the leading health providers, teachers and parents of the present and future.The text and other material in this course may include the opinion of the specific instructor and are not statements of advice, endorsement, opinion, or information of Stanford University.

From the lesson

From Supermarket to Dinner Table to School

Tricks for navigating the supermarket and shop for vegetables. Why the family meal is about more than just food; how to pack a quick, healthy lunch for a child and why this is so important; how to shop for fruits and vegetables (and teach children to love them); making over our children's favorite foods, and more healthy treats.

The family meal3:37

Dealing with picky eaters3:53

Meet the Instructors

Maya Adam, MD
Lecturer
Stanford School of Medicine

[MUSIC]

Children learn a lot from their parents.

They tend to pick up their parent's exercise habits.

They tend to copy their parent's food choices in the long run.

But they also learn a lot from us about how eating should happen.

Do we sit down together and eat from dishes?

Do we eat on the run, in the car or in front of the television?

Do we answer our phones or

check emails during dinner?

There is a lot of evidence suggesting that children who sit down

to eat with their families on a regular basis actually stay healthier.

Our eating behaviors teach our children more than

just which foods are healthier for their bodies.

When we sit together, to share a

meal, our children can learn valuable communication skills.

Like how to listen

to other people.

And to share their ideas in an effective way.

Throughout history, mealtimes have also been an important way for families

to pass on traditions and stories from one generation to the next.

For older children, the dinner table can be a safe place to talk about

anything that's worrying them, and to get advice from the people they trust most.

Besides all of this,

dinner time can be so much fun.

If you want some great tips on how to make meal time special, you

might want to have a look at Laurie David's book called The Family Dinner.

But in the meantime, here are some tips to get you started.

Firstly, try and have everything you need at the table ready at the start of the

meal, so that no one has to get up for the water jug or the pepper mill.

For the first few nights, try thinking up an activity

like a silly game or question to get the ball rolling.

My three little boys love it when I ask them questions about

cars, but obviously you need to

choose questions that will interest your children.

Then, have a story ready about your own day.

Tell them something that happened to you, and how you

reacted, and maybe ask them what they think you should

have done.

This sets them up to be able to share their

own experiences, if they ever want to, at the table.

Finally, if you have enough food to share, try inviting some friends to the meal.

Having friends of any age at the table helps make dinner fun and can teach your

children that meals are a good time to relax and enjoy good food in good company.

It may not be realistic for

some families to sit down to a meal every day.

But in general, the more often we can sit down with

our children to eat, the better it will be for their health.

There is pretty good evidence that

children who regularly eat with their families

do better at school and have better health outcomes than those who don't.

And of course there are many ways for us

to spend quality time with our children, but eating

together can protect the whole family's health and add so much value to our lives.

[MUSIC]

It's

delicious.

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