Cooking With Your Children Can Teach Them Confidence And New Skills

Cooking with children? Hold it! Did I hear you wrongly? You heard me right and this is what this article that I read is all about. Most people will regard the kitchen as not a safe place for children; sharp knives, boiling water, fire etc. Even for me, it was a straight 'NO' to children in the kitchen before. To certain extent, the kitchen is indeed one of the places in the house where children must be kept out - especially when there are no adults around. Some may say, "I don't want them to mess up my kitchen. Hold your horses now. Before you make a firm decision whether or not you should cook with children, probably you want to read this article.

Personally I agree with the author that cooking with children is a good way to teach them about good and healthy food and which are the food to avoid or to consume less. What will be a better way to teach them about healthy food then a personal hands on experience for them. With you around looking after them, you can ensure their safety.Cooking with children can also teach them to be responsible. I have previously posted an article, 'Gardening with Children' that mentioned about teaching children responsibilities through garden.

Not only that, I am sure it will be a great bonding activity with your children and at the same time, it can give their confidence a great boost. Just remember to always practice extra care and cooking with children can very well be an enjoyable experience for both you and your children.

If you're not a natural cook who has a passion for experimenting with food and you don't go crazy about having the right kitchen utensils and equipment in your kitchen, then cooking is probably something you feel you have to do and if someone else offers to cook for you or you can eat out, you're more than happy to do the latter two options. Because cooking can be a real chore if you're not that fussy about what you eat and how it's cooked. However, if you have children you not only have to do it every day but you also have to think about their well-being in terms of what's healthy for them. Have you thought about cooking with your children?

When you think about cooking with children, you would more likely come up with special occasion scenarios where your kids will help you with putting the buttons on the ginger bread men while they try to lick the chocolate sauce - like in the movies. But to cook with them every day sounds almost a scary feat. You don't have to do it every day but try once a week and see how many days you and your children can handle.

Okay, granted, the cooking process would take a little longer and depending on how co-operative and helpful your children are, it could be frustrating at times. But managed properly, cooking could possibly be a more enjoyable experience for you and a more educational experience for your kids. It's also a way to connect with your children making a mundane chore into a sharing experience.

If you can get your children interested, they'd naturally become curious and ask you lots of questions. And if they do, take this cooking experience with them as an opportunity to teach them about which foods are good and healthy and which foods should be used or eaten moderately. The fact that the obesity rate of children are at a high in the United States and other prospering countries is another good reason to make sure your children gets a good head start by explaining to them why it's better to use Extra Virgin olive oil in cooking or eating salad is better than having sugary desserts every night not only sets an example but also gives them the logic behind why you dish out certain types of foods.

Whilst cooking, your children can help you with measuring quantities of various food stuff that you're using and if you can devise a game where your child can help you count solid foods before peeling and asking them to add more or take some away will help them to become more confident at counting. You'd be able to entertain the younger children and educate them at the same time. The older children would find measuring liquids in a jug or flour on a scale a little more challenging especially if you ask them to halve the quantity or double it. Even some adults still find that sort of task challenging. Sometimes providing a little incentive, something that they can win can make them ever so excited to go along with the cooking games.

If your games are devised in a way that makes it so that your children gets things right most of time, this encourages them more to participate in the cooking process making it easier for you and making them more confident about speaking up, joining in and build on their arithmetic and creative abilities.

At the end of all the cooking, praise them for what they've done, show them what their contribution in the cooking process has created. Let them feel as though they were responsible for making dinner for you and your partner which will further help their confidence, build their sense of pride about contributing within the family. And when eating the food, the fact that everyone is enjoying the food they help made really gives them a sense of accomplishing something worthwhile. Of course, you get to feel like you've been a good mother!

About the Author: Penny Roberts writes articles for various websites. The Little Cookbook is one of them. http://www.thelittlecookbook.com

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What Parents Can Do To Fight Obesity In Children

Obesity in children has been growing at an alarming rate in some developed countries. Children nowadays are also spending less time exercising and more time in front of the TV, computer, or video-game console. And today's busy families have fewer free moments to prepare nutritious, home-cooked meals, day in and day out. From fast food to electronics, quick and easy seems to be the mindset of many people, young and old, in the new millennium.

As mentioned by Dr Trisha Macnair, "Obesity is the state of being seriously overweight - to a degree that affects your health. Obesity in childhood is linked to many health complications and tends to indicate the child will be obese as an adult." Since Obesity affects the well being of our children, we really have to look into how we can prevent Obesity in Childhood and a lot of time, it really starts with us.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re well aware of the huge coverage in the media, especially television, regarding the rapidly growing rate of obesity in children.

Even more painfully obvious is the fact that although our presumed awareness has increased, the actions taken to address this issue have not.

The phrase “you are what you eat” is painfully true, especially when dealing with obesity in children. So, if the assumption is made that as parents or adults, our awareness of the problem is there, then why aren’t we seeing a decrease in obesity in children rather than the reverse?

The truth is, children don’t do the weekly shopping for groceries, and they don’t cook the meals. So where is the food coming from? Who is the person responsible for bringing the food into the home? Children will eat what is available and they will no doubt scream if they don’t get all the fast food and junk food they desire, but who is the parent and who is running the show? Obesity in children is a serious issue that can and will cause health issues for these young people.

Admittedly, kids can wear the best of parents down but at the end of the day, their physical future is just as important or even more so, then their educational and vocational future. So, let’s review some tactics that might help over time.

Control the Amount on the Plate

It's no wonder that obesity in children is on the rise when you see the servings of food considered normal. Average portions served in fast food outlets and in many family restaurants have more than doubled since the 1950’s. As a result, the public has come to believe that these huge portions are in fact average, or normal. They are not. Portions served in Asia and Europe are considerably smaller and the results are obvious. If you find yourself at a fast food outlet and the kids are screaming, now’s the time for compromise. Get the smaller servings or share the servings between a couple of them. Be sure to avoid the sugared drinks and this includes fruit juices. Even though they are low in fat and sugar does not contain fat, sugar is stored as fat if not burned up with exercise.

Encourage the kids to eat slower. Perhaps engage them in conversation over the meal so they slow down. By eating at a slower pace, it give the brain time to get the message from the stomach that it is in fact full. What About Between Meals?

Let’s face it; kids can be bottomless pits when it comes to satisfying their appetites. It may seem difficult at first, but keeping the junk food out of the house is a good place to start. If it can’t be avoided, then only have small amounts in the house at any one time and perhaps only allow them once a day or every other day as a treat.

Many people suggest more fat free choices but if they are manufactured food, then what is usually done is more sugar is added o help the flavor and this can in fact be worse than the normal fat.

Natural, unprocessed food should always be the first choice. Fruit and veggies, already cut up and ready for the kids to grab is very handy and kids will get used to it. Even peanut butter on oat bran bread is a much better choice than cookies and candy.When kids are hungry enough, they’ll eat what’s available so make their choices healthier.Obesity in children can impact every area of their lives, including relationships with others.

No More Couch Potato

Activity is the name of the game. Having an electronic babysitter in the form of TV, computer and video games, although sometimes unavoidable for your sanity, really can contribute to obesity in children. If they don’t want to go outside and play, or do sports, then compromise and put in video games that are activity oriented, like learning to hiphop or learn other dances. Even exercise videos can be fun.

Instead of driving to places that are within walking distance, walk. This provides good exercise and gets the children outside in the fresh air.

Obesity in children is a huge problem and requires the attention of those people who are responsible for their care. The physical well being of children is just as important as their education because what kind of future will they have if it is negatively impacted by obesity and the serious medical complications that go with it? What kind of future will they have then?

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About the Author, Deb Marsden: Overcoming Childhood Obesity is one of the greatest challenges faced today. Available resources can be found here. http://getobesityfacts.com/

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