Feeding a Family: mealtime or battle time?

 A lecture on childhood nutrition..

Food is the fuel that powers our children; the food they eat while young is the building block for a growing brain, muscles and bones. The diet of a young child will either help them grow strong and healthy or possibly set them up for a lifetime of health issues.

However, as many of us know from personal experience, feeding a family a balanced and nutritious diet is not always a simple undertaking.

What the kids really want is the frozen pizza, or french fries, plain pasta only – NO sauce!, maybe a carrot, definitely the sweetened yoghurt at every meal. Some love the meat (only) and turn up their nose to the veggies we so lovingly steamed. Knowing that the wrong diet and too many calories can result in lifelong health consequences, parents do their best to get their children to eat a balanced diet. For some families this is an easy task; if they have children who are adventuous eaters they can introduce new foods with ease. For other families, however, the task of getting a balanced meal into their little ones can seem Hurculean.

Passionate Parenting’s main goal is to respond to the needs of parents in our community and to provide on-going parent education on topics of interest to parents not only as ex-pats but in our day to day lives. On the basis volume of requests, the next 2.5 hour seminar in The Hague is a talk focusing on nutrition and tips for turning around your child’s diet. The evening talk, on April 6^th,

^{is to be delivered by Vardit Kohn, a natural nutritionist. Whereas a dietician deals with the different components of food, the fats, carbohydrates and other elements, a natural nutritionist can be considered as a food coach. Ms. Kohn is passionate about food and the relationship between food and health. Her goal is to recommend personal, tailored foods to maximise health, vitality, potential for individuals of all ages.}

When it comes to children, parents have complete control over their available diet, as we buy the food. However, our children also exercise control over their diet – they are ultimately in control of what they choose to put in their mouths. It seems then that t

The talk will address important issues such as how to balance the family dynamic when parents and children do not agree on diet choices, and how to avoid turning meal times into battlegrounds.

So, what's the take-home message? Obviously if you are reading this article, it is too late to change your own early childhood nutrition. However, this Passionate Parenting seminar provides parents with inspiration to make appropriate choices with and for their children in order to promote healthy eating and lifestyles. With this information, parents can learn to give children the tools that will serve them well for the rest of their lives.

To register for this one-off event, send an email to Soul Robertson at