Not everyone can cook or want to cook like master chefs. They might prefer to be in another area of the home than in the kitchen. Or, they might want to spend more time outside the home than spending time creating fancy dishes. The good news for most parents is that their children do not expect master chef cooking. Children have very little expectation when it comes to what they eat. They would eat fast food or processed food all day long without a compliant. A good parent, however, works daily at providing healthy meals for the family.
How can a parent, especially a single parent, who work 8 hours or more, five days a week manage to provide a healthy meal? Mothers say that when they get home from work they are either too tired or too stressed to want to cook. Just the thought of the lengthy time in the kitchen motivates them to pick up pizza, or some quick serving processed meal.
Maintaining the habit of serving any type of process food to children can lead to obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Nutritionists suggests avoiding processed and fast foods at all cost. There are detailed reports on the harmful effects of these types of meal, from the high probability of cancer to heart failure. Reading through the reports as they relate to children, experts stress the importance of tapering children's appetite. They recommend that parents cultivate healthy eating habits at a very early age. This entails serving only dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins that are organic and not processed.
Developing good eating habits in children at an early age will reduce their desire for harmful foods. Children will embrace healthy foods and as they mature understand the importance of eating nutritious meals. Experts emphasize that parents should never force children to eat. They should however, introduce the family to a variety of foods and serve the meals their children like. With this approach children will not sit at the table hours past meal time because they refuse to eat the meal placed before them.
When parents and children agree on the foods to serve the next step is preparation. Parents then work at determining how best to prepare these items. Parents who work can provide healthy meals without spending too much time in the kitchen. For some this might be a challenge because they do not have the know-how or skills.