STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — At this point in my life, I am almost an empty-nester. So I will use this time of maternal maturity and restaurant expertise to share advice to fellow guardians of a child’s food galaxy.
I will not go all Emily Post on you with specifics on which cutlery to use or why elbows should not be on the table. Instead these are my general opinions on how to cultivate a robust palate and a well-behaved future restaurant patron. Ultimately, it all starts in the home.
Here’s what I’ve learned.
Eat together.
Although everyone will have different schedules at times, be sure to have at least one meal a day as a family. If everyone can’t be together as a group, ensure that a child doesn’t eat alone.
Do not drink alcohol at meals.
Whatever you do regularly at the home table your kids will do as well. It’s fine to do at restaurants and special occasions with other adults around, obviously within reason. But everyday drinking, no matter how much it is, normalizes alcohol consumption which can be just as addictive as drugs. That is my educated opinion, and I speak from personal experience.
Introduce fish at a very young age.
Through interviewing restaurant-goers, I have found that those who “hate” seafood either had a bad experience at a young age or never grew up with the aromas and textures of seafood. Start gently with flounder or non-shellfish options if you’re squeamish yourself. I started my kids with sardines on pizza. The strong flavor and saltiness were appealing to their developing palates. However, my greatest mistake was never introducing tuna fish early on to my boys out of fear for mercury warnings. Now, unfortunately, they won’t touch the stuff as they never became familiar with it.
Correct bad habits immediately.
It is normal for children to mimic friends or soak up others’ mannerisms by osmosis. Put a stop to it as soon as it happens. This reinforces on the importance of eating together where you can monitor behavioral changes in real time.
Use milestones to change the course with taste.
If you have a fussy eater — even if they’re older — introduce a new food at a birthday, beginning of the school year, holiday or other happy moment. Positive associations with flavor and aroma can improve how food is perceived. Also, palates do change with age. I promise: it won’t be chicken nugget dinners forever. One day as a good parent you will see a good entry point to reintroduce dishes or ingredients that were once shunned. And soon afterward those truly happy meals will come together.
Pamela Silvestri is Advance/SILive.com Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.
Source link
Research suggests seniors over 80 who eat specific diet may be less likely to reach 100 years old
How meaningful are those health star ratings on food packaging?
Foods that may shorten your lifespan