A guest post by feeding specialist, Simone Emery from Play With Food

Simone is one the fussy eating experts we interview on our ecourse, Thrive, Raising Kids Who Love Real Food where she shares some invaluable tools to help you say goodbye to picky eating. We are running our only live round of Thrive starting 22nd May 2019! Find out more here. 

Over to you Simone …

Many of you wouldn’t be surprised there are growing trends linking technology usage with poorer nutrition selections, higher rates of inactivity and over eating.

We live in a digital world and the long term implications are still emerging. What is more concerning is that screen use has changed dramatically for our children and the ramifications are yet to be fully understood.

We use screens via our phones, our tablets, the TV and laptops, let alone in the work environment. Our children observe our screen use and they may have a range of screen options being offered to them from a very early age. A 2015 poll by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association found that 24% of 2-year-olds had screens on during dinner and by the age of 8 this figure had risen to over 45%.

What is the impact on diets?

The research is mounting about the dietary impact of technologies and not very much of it is good news.

The main dietary impacts include a tendency towards lower dietary variety, increased consumption of foods that are ‘easier to eat’ and having a more sedentary lifestyle.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for nutrition and screen time.

Yet, before diving into what to watch, I believe families should consider their own goals.

We need to set and protect boundaries about technology use.

We also need to set and protect the roles we play in providing, preparing and partaking in food.

I say “set and protect” specifically here because having the whole family on the same page helps avoid confusion that can lead to conflict (aka techno tantrums, mealtime meltdowns and ensuing stress).

It also means that you are mindful of this on a daily basis by protecting your boundaries. A family’s boundaries need to consider who, what (content), when and where.

The “what” of screen usage should definitely pass through a content filter appropriate to your family.

A good guideline for understanding the “what” of content for children is that the content should assist their development and is age appropriate.

So, you wouldn’t be surprised at finding content that helps nutrition (especially for kids) is not easy to find.

There are an amazing number of adverts, body image issues and negative self-talk weaved into digital content.

However, research shows that if screens are used with another person (known as co-viewing), the child learns from spontaneous conversation and there is more effective gate-keeping of appropriate messages.

Your conversations can be enriched significantly by co-viewing media with your child.

This is especially important for children that are still learning about new foods.

Yes, by cleverly using screens and the opportunities it affords you can have meaningful impact on diet.

Ideas of ways that you can co-view screens with your child to enhance their nutrition:

• How to guides for preparing fruits and vegetables (YouTube has some funny and unusual ways to prepare fruits and vegetables  
• Looking up recipes and watching cooking instructional videos
• Making your own cooking video
• Taking pictures of your meals together and discussing the physical properties of the meals together (a great idea for a food anxious child to remove pressure language from the mealtime but give you a chance to still have the food chat you want)
• Helping write a shopping list by googling pictures of the foods you want to buy
• Typing (writing) a kids recipe book full of your kids favorite homemade foods (like to your eBook?)
• Doing some kids yoga or exercise programs from a DVD / website. This will give them some great physical inputs to help increase their attention span at an upcoming meal.

In summary, technology use (ours and our children’s) is definitely part of our lives now.

However, cleverly defining boundaries, making sure we focus on the developmental needs of our children and working in co-viewed content will help you feel less guilty when you flick the switch on.

Simone

If you want more from Simone and other nutrition and parenting experts jump on over and take a look at our 21 day ecourse, Thrive, Raising Kids Who Love Real Food. The next live round starts 22nd May 2019! 

Connection has been something he as craved, but has found difficult to find outside of his family. Sometimes connection is even hard to find within your own family, but as parenting author and educator Maggie Dent says, “the great memories of our childhoods play an important role in our outlook on life….building memories that last occurs simply when we repeat significantly positive experiences“.

Through the ritual of cooking, a major point of connection for Orlando and I (I do not, and will not, play golf!) is the kitchen. For us, it’s a place where we can talk about life’s problems and stresses and fritter them away into the ether, to replace them with a sense of peace, joy and fun.

In the kitchen it’s just me, my son … and food!

Pic: Banana-Choc Cinnamon Icecream from Real Food For Hungry Teens

Everything just feels all right when we are in there together. It’s our own little club where we can relate and speak on the same level, try new approaches and create different taste sensations. I have the extra sense of smell, but he definitely has the highly evolved taste buds!

Sure, we’ll disagree on recipes from time to time (and can’t he put his foot down?!), but for the most part, our time spent together here is a very grounded and deep.

Food and nutrition has been an important part of my life since before he was born. I suppose it’s only natural that some of this will rub off on him, and he has certainly grown up to embrace my love of good food.
Pic: Hearty Black Bean and Sweet Corn Quesadilla

He trusts me enough to tell me when he’s indulged and made some poor choices (which happens more often as he gets more freedom and autonomy), even though he knows I won’t be that happy about it. I guess he feels he can confide in me because he knows the reason I won’t be happy is simply because I love him. I think he trusts me because he doesn’t feel judged, or that he’s let me down.

I do my best not to create fear around food, and the key (to me) is to not be judgmental. Who needs it, right?! It’s about teaching the right lessons and our kitchen experiences allow opportunities for explaining why good, real food is so beneficial. I find that accentuating the positives naturally draws us to positive habits. In doing so, I’m comfortable that I have given him the right set of tools to make the right choices, and can trust him to do so, even if he goes through the inevitable period of rebellion.

My son is big, bustling, sporty, developing and HUNGRY and needs as much nourishment as he can get. It’s critical for his development, but even more important is making sure it’s the right kind of nourishment – the kind that his body requires for sustainable, long term development.

So, this is why we decided to write a recipe book together. And it’s one of the most important things I’ve created in my work because my son and I created it together.

I know I will cherish the memory of this experience forever, as well as all our special moments in the kitchen. I have a feeling he will too.

When I tell him that one day his future wife will thank me for teaching him how to cook, and how lucky his own kids will be having a Dad who knows how to nourish them, he shoots me his proudest grin.

REAL FOOD FOR HUNGRY TEENS is the eBook we created together. We hope you love all the recipes and maybe even create beautiful long-lasting kitchen memories together.

About the eBook: Created by certified health coach, Brenda Janschek, and her hungry and creative son Orlando, this eBook contains a rich variety of over 20 nourishing, real food recipes designed to satisfy the tastebuds and growth requirements of developing teenagers.

Teenage years place a great burden on the body as it transforms into adulthood. These tasty recipes are designed to help our growing kids through this period of physical, emotional and intellectual upheaval with food that actually supports their accelerating growth, without simply resorting to a loaf of bread at each sitting.

You can purchase it here.