Cultivating a Taste for Real Foods in Children

The following article was published in the May/June issue of Real Food and Health Magazine.

Why real foods?

People have relied upon real foods throughout history to ensure good health and proper development. To ensure the best health and development of children, their diets should have the same characteristics as traditional diets. This means that children should eat real foods, which are those that have not been refined or adulterated with chemicals. There should be an emphasis on consuming animal foods and fats, organic fruits and vegetables, and fermented foods.

Real foods are the best way to nourish our children since they can provide all the nutrients needed to grow up healthy. As the research of Weston A. Price showed, people who ate traditional foods had virtually no cavities or tooth decay, nor even cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. It is wise to cultivate a taste for real foods in children, and thereby ensure their lasting health.

Limit exposure to processed foods
Processed foods can wreak havoc on the body, and they can also wreak havoc on the tastebuds. A child whose palate is used to processed foods may have a hard time eating real foods, because the taste is so different. Processed foods tend to be overly salty or overly sweet, and this can make real foods taste bland by comparison. Limiting the amount of processed foods that children eat is a very good way to encourage their palates to savor the taste of real foods.

For instance, after limiting sweets in our diets for quite awhile, the sweetness of candy was downright shocking. Our tastebuds have gotten very sensitive to sweet tastes over time, and this means that we need less sweetness to be satisfied. Since our children have been raised on a nutrient-dense diet of real foods, they don't even have a taste for many processed foods. The first time my daughter tried a soda, she was 3 years old, and her reaction was to ask if she could trade it for a banana.

Don't assume that kids won't like real foods

As adults who grew up eating processed foods, my husband and I sometimes assume that our kids will not like certain real foods. For instance, when our eldest child was a baby, we wanted to get her started early on taking cod liver oil, since it is such as wonderful superfood rich in Vitamins A and D, plus Omega 3's, DHA, and EPA. Since we assumed our daughter would not like the cod liver oil, we initially tried mixing it with cooked, pureed prunes. She really did not like this, and we figured out that actually, she'd much rather have the cod liver oil straight out of the jar. She loved it, and would ask for it every day.

Don't let your own biases taint your children's exposure to foods

Children are very perceptive of their parent's feelings and reactions. When a parent gives food to kids while having a grimace on their own face, the facial expression of the parent can easily prompt the child to reject the food. There is no need to feel grossed out when our kids are eating foods we do not like. It is wise to stifle our own negative reactions to foods to give our kids the best chance of receiving new tastes with an open mind. Foods like sauerkraut, cod liver oil, and organ meats are fabulously nutritious, but sometimes we need to actively work to make sure our kids have a chance to like them.

In our home, I work actively to give our kids a chance to like foods that their dad dislikes, like cruciferous veggies, organ meats, beets, and most fermented foods. I make sure that the kids have many chances to eat all sorts of foods when their dad is at work, and when he is home, he makes sure to be positive and not emphasize his own negative biases for foods.

Let the kids help in the kitchen and garden

Taking the extra time to let kids help in the kitchen and garden can really make them excited about eating real foods. This gets the kids connected to the foods in a real way. They get to watch the plants grow and bear fruit, and then take part in the wonderful process of turning foods into delicious meals.

From the age of 2, my daughter has had her own very small garden plot. She is free to plant whatever she chooses, and is inordinately pleased when it is time to harvest the fruits of her labor. This year, her younger brother will get to join in the experience of growing food that we serve on the dinner table.

Both of my kids have loved to help out in the kitchen from a very young age. Toddlers can put food scraps into the compost bucket, put chopped foods into a pot, and stir some ingredients together (but not flour without a big mess). Preschoolers can break eggs into a bowl, measure and stir ingredients, peel and even chop some veggies, tear and wash lettuce, and put together salads. With older kids, the possibilities are endless.

Provide a wide variety of options

There are many wonderful real foods to eat, so it should not be difficult to try some new foods if kids are averse to any specific foods. Even if you try just one new food each week, over time this can really expand the range of foods the kids will eat. If you make sure that all of the options are nutritious, there is not so much worry if the kids only choose to eat certain items. Having plenty of options allows the kids to feel like they have some control over what they can eat.

For kids averse to veggies, start with simple cooked carrots or mashed potatoes. For kids that don’t like sauerkraut, try pickles or pickled beets. Fermented drinks, such as beet kvass and kombucha, are also a great way to introduce fermented foods to kids. My kids love beet kvass; they call it beet juice and are very excited to drink it. We’ve also had very good success with letting the kids choose their own flavor of cod liver oil.

Be persistent and keep a positive attitude

While negative tactics may work in the short term, keep the goal of lifelong healthy eating in mind. In the end, we want our children to truly savor real foods, and to seek them out as adults. Meal time should be enjoyed, and if it starts to turn into a nightly battle then it is probably time to take a step back and try some new tactics. If the kids don’t like many foods yet, don’t give up.

Don’t be afraid to try a variety of preparations. For instance, if your kids don’t like plain broccoli with butter, try cutting it very small and adding it to stir-fry. If they don’t like meat, try cutting it very small and just adding a small amount to soup. When needed, giving the kids a little dipping sauce can really go a long way, too. Homemade ketchup or honey mustard sauce pair wonderfully with most meats and veggies.

Chop meat very small for young children

Meat can be especially difficult for some kids to eat. Remember, though, that their mouths and teeth are much smaller than those of adults. Chopping and shredding meat into pieces that are very small is a great way to make sure that kids can easily eat meat.

Giving my kids a chunk of steak or roast is a sure way to ensure that they won’t finish their meat. If I take the time to chop it very small and add some lovely cooking juices, they are sure to gobble it up. I always shred steaks and roasts with a fork rather than cutting them up; this ensures that the pieces are nice and small. For chicken or dishes with chunks of meat, I like to use kitchen shears to chop it up right in the bowl.

Extreme pickiness is sign of improper gut flora

Children who are extremely picky and will only eat a few foods may have improper gut flora. In such cases, the children’s guts are really in charge of their tastebuds and food preferences. In extreme cases, special diets such as the GAPS diet may need to be undertaken to get the proper balance of flora in children’s guts.

Making sure kids get plenty of probiotics is another way to help their gut bacteria get healthier. Fermented foods are a wonderful source of probiotics. Milk kefir, which is a cultured milk drink, even contains probiotics that will kill bad bacteria! Go slowly in introducing such foods, though, since a “die-off” reaction can occur with the shift to more beneficial bacteria in the gut. “Die-off” reactions are caused by toxins that are released as the bad bacteria are killed within the gut, and symptoms can include diarrhea, headaches, and lethargy.

A wonderful legacy

Cultivating a taste for real foods is truly worth the effort. Helping kids enjoy real foods gives them the best chance for long-lasting health. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful legacy to leave your kids, as they seek out those foods from childhood that they loved so much?