Why Health Matters
Feeding a family well on a budget
Feeding a family well on a budget can sometimes feel overwhelming.There is so much advice about what we should and shouldn’t eat, while grocery
prices keep rising and can make eating healthy feel even more difficult. But I believe that healthy family meals don’t have to be complicated, expensive, or perfect.
My advice? Keep it simple.
Packaged foods are the ones you want to keep to a minimum. Fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, and dairy are a good place to start. A quick Google search can tell you if you are on the right track and whether you are providing a balanced diet with the correct nutrients.
As we live in a modern world, it seems that packaged foods are almost impossible to avoid, so I use modern technology to help me with my choices. I have an app on my phone that lets me scan the barcode of products and gives me a health score out of 100, as well as explaining why that score is applied.
The app is called Yuka, with which I am not affiliated in any way, and I am sure there are others. I use this one because my daughter’s children are food-sensitive, and that is the app she uses. I don’t use many packaged foods anymore, but when I do, I give them a quick scan and make brand choices based on the scores they receive on the app.
Teaching children about food
When we talk about educating children, we often think about books, numbers, reading, and everything they need to learn. But there is
another part of raising children that is just as important, and that is their understanding of how to look after their bodies. Teaching them to make the right food choices and not sit around all day playing video games is important too. And when a child is hungry, all they want is something, anything, to fill a hole.
As homeschoolers, my children usually grazed during the day. Fresh fruit, cheese, and carrot and celery sticks were available to them any time they needed a snack between meals. But when they returned to school, they would come home absolutely ravenous and fill up on any bulky food available. By dinner, they were too tired and still full, and they started to turn their noses up at the vegetables on their plates.
At first, I thought I had a dinner problem, but then I realised I had an afternoon snack problem.
So, I changed things around. Instead of trying to get them to eat their vegetables when they were too tired or not hungry at dinner, I started serving vegetables at their afternoon snack and also adding more to the lunchbox.
It worked.
A simple change
So, an example of the meals of the day might be eggs scrambled with spinach and orange or mandarin for breakfast; a sandwich or wrap with salad, carrot and celery sticks, and
cucumber rounds, with a banana or apple for lunch; an after-school snack of mashed vegetables made into a patty and pan-fried, or a cauliflower and broccoli cheese dish; and then dinner can be light, with just some meat and perhaps rice or pasta.
It was a small change, but it taught me something important.
Healthy eating isn't always about what we serve, sometimes it's about when we serve it.
Children need to move
Another important way to help kids develop is through exercise. Children are naturally designed to move. Running, climbing, jumping, dancing, riding bikes, swimming, or simply
playing outside all give children opportunities to develop strength, coordination, and fitness.
Exercise doesn’t have to mean organised sport. Sometimes the best exercise is simply play. When children enjoy being active, they are more likely to continue those habits as they grow.
Just getting outside is important too. Fresh air, natural light, and sunshine give kids a chance to step away from screens and spend time moving, exploring, and connecting with the world around them. Sunshine also helps our bodies make vitamin D, although here in Oz, we need to be sensible about when and how long we are in the sun without protection.
There is also another benefit to being outside, whether it is in a garden, in the bush, or at the beach. The outdoors gives us a sense of freedom, with no walls around us, and the fresh air, sun, and sights can give our moods a lift, young and old.
Sometimes a simple excursion outdoors can change the way the day is heading and give kids and parents the reset they need
It's about the bigger picture
Healthy children don’t need a perfect diet or a perfectly organised exercise routine. There will be birthday cake, lazy afternoons, takeaway dinners, .
and days when everyone would rather stay in their PJs. What matters is the bigger picture.
We can teach children that food gives their bodies what they need to grow, that movement helps make their bodies stronger, and that getting outside and enjoying the world around them is good for both body and mind.
And sometimes, as I discovered with my own children, healthy habits are simply about being willing to look at what isn’t working and try something different.
We aren’t aiming for perfection. We’re teaching children how to care for the bodies they will have for the rest of their lives
with love
Nana Tam
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