‘Finish your dinner!’ and ‘just eat one more bite!’ are two of the most common refrains heard daily at family dining tables, but while mums and dads live in fear their kids will go hungry, expert advice suggests the opposite.
Busy lifestyles and ready access to convenience foods (coupled with our very Irish tendency to stuff children to the gills at every meal) has contributed to an obesity crisis that is worsening annually.
In fact, research shows that children’s portion sizes have grown ever larger over the last 20-30 years. With four in every five children not meeting the guidelines for physical activity and one in four children overweight and obese, it’s time for a serious rethink.
The best place to start? At the dinner table.
According to safefood, what you need to keep in mind is this: they are children, so give them child-sized portions. For instance; a five-year-old needs about half the amount an adult does.
Are you guilty of serving up heaping portions of pasta and potatoes? Do you overload your child’s plate and demand they finish every morsel?
Here are some tips on how to regain some portion control:
- Give them smaller portions of food on their plates to start with. If they want more food, then give it to them. If they say they’re hungry, offer them something nutritious like fruit and vegetables (for example, an apple or handful of grapes).
- Avoid having fatty and sugary snack foods freely available between and after meals.
- Don’t pressure them to eat all the food on their plate, allow them to stop when they say ‘I’ve had enough’.
- Use plates and cutlery that match their size.
- Look at the proportions of food you offer during the day, they should be roughly:
One third fruit and vegetables
One third starchy foods like bread and potatoes
One third dairy (milk, cheese and yogurt) and protein (meat and fish)
For more information about portion sizes and to download a Reward Chart, visit the safefood website.
