SubscribeAn apple a day
Look outside of any big urban school and chances are you’ll find candy wrappers, empty bags of chips and soda cans littering the schoolyard. Many children buy these snacks on their way to school because no one is making them meals at home.
Some mothers are even relieved when they don’t have to pack school lunches every day because their children qualify for free, federally funded meals, which by the way are usually horrible.
The other day I interviewed a young rapper who’s about to graduate from college on my radio show “The Real Deal With Fatimah Ali,” which is heard on 900 AM WURD in Philadelphia. He told me that he often eats jelly beans for breakfast. Although this young man loves to cook, eating junk food on the run has become a habit for him and he says he’d rather eat candy than nothing. Unfortunately, like so many young people, he grew up with two working parents who fed him but didn’t always have the time to make good, nourishing food. And we are seeing this trend more and more.
Still, I was shocked as well as outraged to read a recent news story about a Chicago school forbidding children from bringing their own lunches from home. According to the principal, the school’s lunches were much healthier than the foods kids were bringing in. Although I seriously understand the reasons for taking these drastic measures, I also felt strongly that this was a missed opportunity to educate children and their parents about making positive lifestyle decisions.
Most of us remember the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
When I was growing up in the ’60 and ’70s that apple was a symbol of good health, along with the cartoon character Popeye’s can of spinach, which appeared on billboards all over town. Along with having good manners, eating good food with lots of fruit and vegetables was the standard for every meal. In my parents’ house, as in most of my friends’ homes, we weren’t allowed to have dessert until our plates were clean. And there was no discussion about it. We ate whatever our mother put in front of us and her food was always delicious as well as healthy.
I’ve said this kazillion times: Children actually welcome the opportunity to eat healthy food, particularly when you educate them from a very young age about the need for good nutrition to build strong bodies. So if you have children or grandchildren who are toddlers, start educating them today about the correlation between good food, healthy minds and strong bodies.
You’ll be amazed at how interested they are in eating well and participating in their own growth and development.
Quick and easy lunch rules
Kids love to dip, so invest in tiny plastic containers and/or ziplock bags.
Put their favorite salad dressing and some leftover plain pasta in a plastic container
Chop up broccoli, carrots, celery, apples and any other snack-like foods that they like and pack it in ziplocks
Find a good vegetable chip or make popcorn seasoned with garlic powder and olive oil for snacks
Allow children to help pack their own lunches and choose what they pack
Remember, the more they help, the better they’ll love the food. And next thing you know, their friends will want them to bring healthy lunches for them as well.
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As the mother of five and a journalist, I've always encouraged people to empower themselves with information on healthy foods and lifestyles. Nurturing our children with healthy food is one of the most important jobs we have, yet as families have become busier or drifted apart, meal times have been sacrificed.
