Enjoying at least one family meal together a day is recommended. It has been shown that children who have more family meals tend to consume more nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables and dairy products (hyperlink to ‘What does eat nutritious and varied options mean’). Certain foods are not nutritious and family meals have been shown to be one way to reduce the consumption of such foods, simply by not offering them. Many countries are dealing with the growing problem of obesity and overweight in children, and not partaking in family meals has been shown to increase the likelihood of a child carrying extra weight and body fat.

To get the best and most out of a family meal, ensure that you all sit around a table – be it a kitchen or a dining table. Get rid of distractions, including cell phones, the daily newspaper and the television. If possible, set mealtimes so that all family members are aware that it is lunchtime or dinner time and can plan their day accordingly to minimise interruptions. Make a habit of setting the table in a way that will beautifully showcase the food and encourage everyone’s participation in dishing out the wide variety of nutritious food available. As a parent, you need to be a model of good behaviour in your food choices, portion sizes and attitude towards food during the family meal.

The benefits of family meals go beyond nourishing the body. It also impacts a child’s psychological well-being. You can use mealtimes to talk about the day your child had in the classroom, the time spent during sports, their extracurricular activities, and life in general. In this way, children learn to better express themselves, to receive encouragement and support in dealing with setbacks, and to celebrate their triumphs. Family meals are a time for sharing nutritious meals, good conversation, and creating a general feeling of togetherness.

A family meal is as an occasion when food is eaten simultaneously in the same location by more than one family member, involving at least one child and adult. This is something that used to happen spontaneously but has become more uncommon in many households. Breakfast time is often a hurried affair as all family members rush to get to school or work – be it at home or away from home. The business of the day tends to go on until bedtime, with meals taken at different times.

When your child eats alone, they will leave whatever food they do not like on the plate, especially the vegetables that you have spent time preparing. It will also be hard for you to monitor what food your child has eaten and how much thereof. Some of the food may have been fed to the family dog or even gone to the bin.

This situation can also result in ‘finish all your food’ commands which may lead to unhealthy eating behaviours, because being forced to finish a plate of food when full teaches the brain to ignore its ‘you are full’ signals – leading to overeating. You may even resort to offering certain foods your child likes as a reward for eating – a bad practice that will also lead to unhealthy eating behaviours.

Family meals are an important piece of the puzzle in getting children involved in food preparation, creating that mealtime environment where a variety of nutritious food is offered, and for them to see all members of the family – regardless of how many you are – enjoying healthy food.

We are saying choose a variety of nutritious foods but your weekly visits to the supermarket may leave you feeling discouraged about the affordability of it all. Firstly, when you get home with the produce that you and the kids picked out, plan your meals for the week so none of the food goes to waste – especially fresh fruits and vegetables. Leafy vegetables, such as spinach and fruits that quickly ripen, such as bananas are time-sensitive and therefore must be cooked or eaten first. Pumpkin, butternut and watermelon can be your options for later in the week.

Use leftover foods to prepare the next day’s meals. Leftover sweet potatoes can be used to make a sweet potato pie for dessert. Leftover beef stew is ideal to make a pie, and adding chopped sweet peppers and some egg to leftover rice is a quick lunchtime meal. Some animal products which are good sources of protein, (hyperlink to What does eat nutritious and varied options mean?) like red meat and cheese can be more expensive, depending on where you live. Choose legumes (beans, lentils, jugo beans / bambara groundnuts), eggs, chicken, and canned pilchards/tuna to stretch your budget. Fermented milk (maas) and soya foods are also a good source of protein and together with uphuthu or rice make up a good meal for all ages.

Create a space in your garden to grow your own fruit trees and vegetables for a continuous supply of fresh produce. Excess fruits and leafy vegetables such as collard greens and mustard greens can be preserved through canning and drying, respectively.

You know that feeling you get when you are invited for dinner and your host serves the food using the most amazing plateware, a beautiful bowl and servers for the salad, soft napkins, shiny cutlery, and sparkling glassware? This can make you feel like a special guest. You already know that the food is going to be delicious before you even taste it! Well, kids also respond to that kind of visual stimulation.

You could make a beautiful display of colourful fruits and vegetables described here (hyperlink to ‘Involve children in food preparation’) and serve them in small colourful or clear glass bowls. Hummus to be served as a dip and salad dressing to pour onto the salad can also be beautifully presented for the kids to independently dish their food. This is a great way to introduce two to three new foods to the family, with all family members trying a spoonful/teaspoonful amount of each food, depending on age.

It goes without saying that all these suggestions work well if the whole family sits down together for a meal. Keep in mind though that as a parent, family meals are not a good time to share your feelings about how you cannot stand fish, cabbage, anchovies, or cucumber. This is the time to be excited about all the food that is on the table. When children can see everyone enjoying the same food and conversation around the ‘yumminess’ of the food is flowing, it will encourage them to try even those foods they would have been otherwise sceptical to try – especially if they were eating on their own. It is also important to use a positive tone of voice when encouraging children to try a particular food. Attempt to serve certain unpopular foods often and to prepare it in different creative ways before it is added to the ‘liked’ list by your children. Do not give up!

Children are often fascinated by what the adults in the family are up to and cooking is one such activity they can be involved in from a young age. Have your child help you to preparing meals or snacks by creating themes around the meal. Consider making up the colours of the rainbow using fruits and vegetables. The creativity required to include all colours of the rainbow means that a variety of fruits and vegetables will be included in almost all meals, and children will be more likely to try out new foods.

• Roast vegetables for dinner: tomatoes (R), carrots (O), corn on the cob (Y), broccoli (G), eggplant (B)
• Salad vegetables for lunch: celery/lettuce (G), cherry tomatoes (R), chickpeas (Y),
• Sandwich mix: cucumber (G), tomato (R), julienne carrots (0)
• Kebabs: strawberry (R), oranges (O), pineapples (Y), grapes (V), kiwi (G)

Have fun with the activity. Alternate the colour of the fruit or vegetable based on what it looks like with the skin/peel, and without. Today, a banana may be yellow because of the peel, but tomorrow it’s white because of the flesh – same with cucumber, eggplant, watermelon and potatoes.

Beyond the roasted and salad fruits and vegetables, involve children in the preparation of other meals. Start with soft porridge (sorghum/maize/oats), eggs (boiled/scrambled/omelette), and steamed mealie bread. Move on to starches and vegetables that are served as part of a lunch or dinner such as a baked/mashed potato, savoury rice, spinach, uphuthu/ umvubo/ting. As they gain confidence, they can learn mixed dishes such as stuffed peppers, macaroni and cheese, seafood paella and umngusho. You can also indulge them in kids, cooking classes over the weekend or school holidays. Preparing nutritious meals and snacks will not only help them to appreciate nutritious food but it also teaches them an important life skill, setting them up for a healthy lifestyle.

Not all foods available at the local food market or shop will provide the necessary nutrients (hyperlink to ‘What does eat nutritious and varied options mean?’) needed by the growing child. Making the correct food choices starts at the point where you buy your groceries – be it a shop, markets, fruit and veg merchants, or directly from the farm. After making sure that you have a variety of healthy foods available at home, offer different of options for a meal.

Here are some:

• Boiled egg / beans / peanut butter on toast for breakfast. Here various protein food options are on offer.
• Mango/banana/strawberry/pineapple smoothie, keeping in mind the season and availability of certain fruits, served as a snack. Fruits can be sliced up and placed in a container with dividers.
• Popcorn / sweet potato crisps / fruit kebabs for movie night served on a platter.
• Chose to fill a wrap filled with tuna / meatballs / black beans together with salad vegetables / guacamole for lunch. This can also be packed in a divided lunchbox so they can make up the wrap at school.

Giving children the choice appeals to their independent streak, while limiting their options to nutritious foods means that you are maintaining control of the types of food they are consuming.

Certain meals are also a good way of ensuring that one large serving of vegetables is offered at a time. Pita pockets are great for stuffing with a mix of crunchy vegetables. Soups served hot or cold are made with a multitude of vegetables, while hearty stews and casseroles can contain several vegetables cut up in a variety of shapes and sizes. Homemade milkshakes may include real fruits as a dessert (peaches, banana, etc.), while allowing you to limit the sugar source to just one scoop of ice cream. Natural food colourants such as beetroot extract can be used to add colour.

At around three years of age, parents start dealing with the very vocal preschool child who tells you what they want to and what they refuse to eat. Unfortunately, what they prefer to eat is not always nutritious, and it may limit your options as a parent, throwing the notion of a nutritious and varied diet out the window. Once children get away with selecting foods that they want at that young age, it is very difficult to change this behaviour as they get older and move into primary school. In dealing with the ‘I won’t eat that’ mindset, parents then choose foods they know their child will enjoy, further limiting the availability of a variety of nutritious foods in the house.

Fruits and vegetables are the foods most likely to be rejected, leading to many children not eating enough of them. Parents may even stock up on a lot of non-nutritious foods that are more widely accepted such as high-fat/salt foods, highly processed meats, and high-sugar drinks. All of these food choices end up making their way into children’s school lunch pack, unknowingly even affecting their ability to learn.

Finding solutions to the problem starts with education, and that is why you are here on this page, reading and learning about nutrition. As you learn about what is good for your child and how to include a variety of nutritious foods in their diet, you are on the right track.

The biggest challenge for all mothers is getting their children to eat fruits and vegetables. Three-year-olds enjoy their newly found independence and are very keen to learn new things. Teach young children about fruits and vegetables by involving them in the shopping experience. Take your time when going through the fruit and veg aisle, showing them new colours, shapes and getting them excited about the taste. Get them to choose a few to try at home and involve them in the preparation, even making up stories about the food to create some excitement. After all the preparation, enjoy the prepared fruits or vegetables with them as a family.

A different approach to education is warranted if your child is in primary school. Teachers in primary school typically promote a culture of continuous learning through reading and experimentation. As a parent, you can continue with these principles at home. For example, natural science teaches them about what plants need to grow. Teaching your child about the importance of vitamins and minerals found in fruit and vegetables is a lesson, for example how electrolytes found in fruits help their muscles recover after a sporting activity. This website contains a lot of important information on nutrition that you can teach your children to encourage the consumption of nutritious foods.

For children at all ages, eating well is what is needed to make learning, living, playing, and growing possible. Children
should be given meals made up of foods that provide nutrients and are therefore considered nutritious for their bodies.
Giving children foods rich in nutrients is what allows them to learn as is appropriate for their age, to move and play, and
to grow from young children to teenagers and upwards.

As a parent, you need to give your child foods that will give them the following nutrients:

• Carbohydrates, the main energy source needed for the body’s systems to function. Examples of systems is the heart and its network of veins and arteries which pumps blood, supplying oxygen to all the cells of the body, the kidneys that clear waste products from the body, and the lungs that breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Even the brain network is a system that is always at work!
• Proteins are the building blocks of the body, making children taller, bigger and stronger – as well as fixing any damage after injuries. Proteins are also an alternative energy source when needed but this should not happen in growing children. Proteins also play an important part in children’s immune system which protects and fights against illness and disease.
• Fats are another important energy source, in particular when children are sleeping and when they are exercising. Fats also create a protective cushion for vital organs, like the liver.
• There are about 26 vitamins and minerals found in food that are known to be necessary for a child to consume. They are needed for the body to be able to use the other nutrients, and in that way keep all the body’s systems in operation. For example, without calcium the heart would not be able to pump blood, and the blood needs iron to transport oxygen throughout the body.
• Water, without which nothing in the body would work.

As you have read, all nutrients are important and not having enough of any one of them will not be good for your child. It is important to keep in mind that no single food has all the nutrients. Oatmeal, maize meal, bread or pasta will provide mostly carbohydrates, a little protein and selected vitamins and minerals. Meat, chicken or fish will provide your child with protein, some fat, and specific vitamins and minerals. Beans and lentils are naturally fat-free and animal-free proteins. Vegetables such as spinach, pumpkin or beetroot will give loads of vitamins and minerals and some protein. Fruits also offer loads of vitamins and minerals, and some carbohydrates. Milk and other dairy products provide protein, some carbohydrates and specific vitamins and minerals. It is therefore necessary to use different foods to prepare nutritious meals for your child, and to also give nutritious foods as snacks in between the meals. Last but not least: All children need to drink clean water regularly throughout the day.

At around three years of age, parents start dealing with the very vocal preschool child who tells you what they want to and what they refuse to eat. Unfortunately, what they prefer to eat is not always nutritious, and it narrows down your options as a parent, throwing the notion of a nutritious and varied diet out the window. Once children get away with selecting foods they want at that young age, it is very difficult to change this behaviour as they get older and move into primary school. In dealing with the ‘I won’t eat that’ mindset, parents tend to purchase mostly foods they know their child will enjoy, further limiting the availability of a variety of nutritious foods in the house.

Fruits and vegetables are the foods most likely to be rejected, leading to many children not eating enough. Parents may even stock up on a lot of non-nutritious foods that are more widely accepted such as high-fat/salt foods, highly processed meats, and high-sugar drinks. All of these food choices end up making their way into children’s school lunch pack, negatively affecting their ability to learn at school.

Finding solutions to the problem starts with education, and that is why you are here on this page, reading and learning about nutrition. Once you know as a parent what is good for your child and how to include a variety of nutritious foods in their diet, you are on the right track.