Why Real Food is Real Important For Your Child

Real, un-processed foods provide a variety of important and healthy nutrients to your child’s growing body. Highly processed foods are stripped of basic nutrients and provide little to any nourishment. 

Why Real Food Is Real Important For Your Child

Children grow every day, and growing kids need important nutrients to be strong and healthy. The nutritional needs of a growing child are much different than the needs of an adult. The foods and beverages that a child eats goes to helping them grow, develop and thrive. 

Children are not just small adults. 

Real foods are the ones that come from nature - either from a plant or an animal. Some manufactured foods are real foods that are processed into another form; such as milk made into butter, cheese and yogurt. Other foods are processed to help them have a longer shelf-life (ex. canned tuna, canned tomatoes) or made into a more convenient or tasty form (ex. pasta, peanut butter, maple syrup, olives). When foods are processed, certain changes happen. Processed foods can be heated, canned, pasteurized, frozen, dried and packaged. Salt, sugar, preservatives, flavors, or fats are often added to make processed foods taste better. 

Unprocessed, or Minimally, Processed Foods:
Unprocessed, or minimally processed, foods are foods that have slight changes made to them. The minimally processed changes made to foods help make them easier to access or help preserve the foods to enjoy at a later time. Examples include fresh veggies and fruits, whole grains, pre-washed and cut vegetables, as well as roasted nuts, meats and milk.

Real, un-processed foods provide a variety of important and healthy nutrients to your child’s growing body. 

Processed Culinary Ingredients:
Processed culinary ingredients are foods that come from nature that have been changed to make them easier to use in the kitchen. Butter, salt, oil and sugar have been slightly changed from their original form. Spices and herbs may be dried, pressed, refined or milled. These foods are not meant to be eaten alone. These ingredients are added to enhance the flavor of other foods. 

Processed Foods:
Processed foods are real foods with the addition of 2 to 3 ingredients that have been added to make the foods more stable or to enhance the quality of the food. Processed foods include cereals, cheese, tofu, bread, cakes, canned meats and beans, as well as frozen or canned vegetables and fruits.

Ultra-Processed Food and Drink Products:
Ultra-processed foods are those foods that have been significantly changed from their original form. Ultra-processed foods are made from a component of real food with the addition of additives, dyes, colors, sugar or non-sugar sweeteners, preservatives and/or other ingredients. These additions change the texture, flavor or appearance of the food product. These foods no longer resemble the real foods from which they originated. These food and beverage products (such as packaged snacks, pre-made frozen meals and soft drinks) are designed to be shelf-stable or easily consumed right away. Ultra-processed foods require minimal, if any, preparation.

Highly processed foods are stripped of basic nutrients and provide little to any nourishment. 

Some ultra-processed food products are fortified with vitamins and nutrients. Fortified means that the nutrients have been chemically added back in. 

Real foods naturally contain vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients that fuel your child’s body in the healthiest way possible. 

Diets that are high in ultra-processed food and beverage products have been linked to chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Although cancer, diabetes and heart disease are generally thought of as adult-onset diseases, pediatricians like myself are seeing these health problems show up in young children more than ever before. There is a definite link between diet and health.

Poor health comes from an unhealthy diet.
Good health comes from a healthy diet.

Feeding your kid with real unprocessed, or minimally processed, food helps establish your child’s foundation for a healthy life. 

Helping your child establish a good relationship with real food helps shape your child’s food preferences and future eating habits. 

Starting a healthy diet early helps kids stay healthy.
 

Here Are 4 Tips For Getting Your Kid To Eat and Enjoy Real Food

Buy Real Food 
What you buy and bring home is what your kid will eat. It is a good idea to make changes slowly, so go ahead and make one change to begin. Try buying a seasonal vegetable and/or fruit (when that food is at its tastiest and usually the best price) and serve it as a snack or with meal-time. Fresh in season produce always tastes best. If real food is already in the kitchen, it is more likely to be eaten.

Eat Real Food Yourself
Your kid does what you do. If your child sees you eating real food, they are more likely to eat real food themselves. Share some real food that you like with your child. Even better, have them help you wash, chop or prep it. Children love their parents and get excited about new things when you do too. Let your kid see you eating real food.

Reduce Processed Food Portions
Less is more. Ultra-processed foods don’t give kids the nutrition that they need - so give them less of these empty foods. Kids learn about portion sizes at home. Don’t let them fill up on these fake foods. If your child is used to having ultra-processed food, offer a smaller amount with some real food at the same time. A small serving of fish crackers or veggie puffs alongside apple slices with peanut butter, or a sliced hard-boiled egg, can be a great start.

Let Your Kid In
Kids love to be with their parent(s). The kitchen is a place to be shared. Let your child into the kitchen to see what foods you are preparing or making. Kids make great taste testers. Smaller children can help wash produce or help stir things in a bowl. Letting them smell the aroma and take little tastes helps prime their taste preferences for later. It takes a lot of exposure to a new food for a child to enjoy eating it. Seeing, touching and smelling a new food starts your child’s introduction to that new food. We all know that it can be stressful to have your child in the kitchen. If having your child in the kitchen is new for you, start out 1 to 2 times a week. Be consistent and make it an on-going date. You may see that having your child in the kitchen pays off with sniffs, licks and eventual tastes of new food. Smiles are likely not far behind!