Healthy eating

LET me set the scene — Johnny won’t eat a breakfast, Aoife’s lunchbox arrives back untouched, Jack refuses his dinner and Emma won’t touch the veggies.

You get the idea — stubborn kids, exasperated parents, uneaten healthy food and all the angst that follows. But is all this consternation really necessary or worthwhile?

While few children in Ireland have an optimal diet, only a tiny minority are deficient in vitamin or mineral intakes.

Yes, they might get too much sugar, fat and salt, but by and large, Irish children’s intake of protein, vitamins and minerals is more than adequate.

This is critical, because along with energy, these nutrients are the one’s which influence kids’ physical growth and intellectual development, the two outcomes that concern parents most.

While most Irish kids get enough of the most critical nutrients, not all is rosy in the garden.

For example, iron intakes, an important determinant of physical growth and brain development, are low in some Irish children.

Similarly, intakes of vitamin D, another vital nutrient in physical and neurological development, are also inadequate among a majority of Irish kids and teenagers, while intakes of omega-3, an essential building block in the creation of brain and nervous tissue, are also poor.

In addressing such deficits, we should aim to keep things as simple (and economical) as possible.

1. Start with a fortified breakfast cereal and fortified milk every morning. Nearly all breakfast cereals today are enriched with extra iron, vitamin D and B vitamins like folate and B12 which are also involved in brain development.

And their consumption with milk, especially fortified milk, further enhances their nutritional value.

2. To increase kids’ intake of omega-3 oil requires extra oily fish consumption. This can be fresh salmon, mackerel or trout, but could just as easily be tinned mackerel, herring or sardine sandwiches in the lunchbox.

Tinned fish is much cheaper, and most varieties have excellent omega-3 content. So, serve oily fish around four times per week.

3. Include red meat about three to four times a week to ensure adequate iron intake. This is a target many families easily reach.

These guidelines are all fine and dandy, but what about practice? Again, simplicity is the key.

Consultation (limited) with children about their food preferences can often reveal acceptable but nutritious food choices, as can creativity at mealtimes (for example, selecting nutritionally similar alternatives like fruit instead of vegetables).

Persistence is also important, especially with younger kids. Without creating an adversarial stand-off (disastrous for both parties), rejected foods should be re-tried after a few days.

Children grow to like virtually any food if they’re exposed to it often enough, so usually by the time they’ve tasted it 20 times they’ll take it without difficulty.

Finally, remember that you’re the gate-keeper who determines what food comes into the home — if you feel it’s not good for your kids then bite the bullet and leave it out.

¦ Dr Daniel McCartney, lecturer in Human Nutrition & Dietetics at DIT