I often am approached by parents wanting information on best feeding practices for their children. Sometimes parents complain they battle with “fussy eaters”, sometimes it is that their “toddler is too busy to eat”, sometimes it is that their children are constantly nagging for junk food, or “won’t eat anything healthy”.
On the one hand I encourage parents to keep the peace in the home and resist the urge to try to control their children, especially with regards to eating. Food wars, almost always will cause problem eaters down the track. At the same time, parents are the nutritional gatekeepers, and so I do encourage them to take advantage of their ability to influence their children’s eating habits. They can do this in several ways:
- They can make sure there is delicious healthy food available.
- They can be a good role model, choose, prepare and eat healthy food in satisfying ways.
- They can watch their dialogue around food, eating, and body image.
- They can invite their children to take part in meal decisions or meal preparation.
- They can crowd out or minimize the availability of junk food in the house.
- They can set norms, boundaries and expectations around eating in the home.
- They can create an environment for best eating practice.
At every stage of childhood, parents have responsibilities with feeding while children have responsibilities with eating. As the child gets older, their responsibilities increase. So be aware that you will have different degrees of influence and responsibility at different ages. That is why being a role model, and a facilitator and leader is a better strategy than trying to control everything, or nothing.
Here’s what I mean: In the case of the infant: the parent is responsible for what the infant eats and how they eat it. A baby has no ability to control that, they can cry, they can refuse to eat, but the parent will decide whether the baby is offered breast or bottle, if bottle, which formula, the parent will decide when to wean, and the parent will decide what to wean with. (Once the preferred infant food is decided by the parent, the infant is only in charge of how much they consume.
As a child starts eating more solid foods they become accountable for not only how much they eat but also whether they eat. Usually the older they get, the more they assert their will and their preferences, but they still can’t really “help themselves” or control “what their choices are”. Children choose how much they eat and whether they eat.
If parents successfully take on responsibility for their part of the feeding (e.g. choosing food, preparing food, being good role models around food and mealtime), children will learn how to eat, how to determine satiety and how to eat a variety of different foods, all of which lead to competent eating (1). But in order to achieve this, parents must give their child some responsibility of their own. This is crucial in teaching children good eating habits.
Here is one example highlighting why it is important they are given some of the responsibility. I have watched many well intentioned parents insist their children don’t leave the table until they finish everything on their plate (my mother included). While the parent has the best interests of the child at heart (or perhaps they don’t like to waste food), unfortunately this rule overrides the child’s natural abilities to judge “satiety” and learn when they have had enough and practice the act of “stopping eating”.
Under three, children will stop eating based on their own internal cues rather than being influenced by serving size or how much food is on their plate; after five however, a child will typically be much more influenced by serving size, and eat more or less dependent on external rather than internal cues. So I would encourage you to give your child the opportunity to practice this skill, if they have had enough, let them stop.
In the same breath, I am a mum, and I “get” that children might “play up”, get distracted, have preferences and so it is necessary to consider some practical guidelines around eating, and certainly important to manage expectations and boundaries.
Here are some ideas:
Encourage them to sit down and eat their food at the table (not on the run or in front of the TV), research shows this facilitates mindful eating, and furthermore research shows lower incidence in teenage depression of families who share at least one meal a day at the dinner table.
You might set an expectation that they eat vegetables every day, but you encourage them to choose any two types of vegetables from the options available for their plate each night (they can choose from what is available e.g. “Which two would you like, you can have pumpkin, raw carrot sticks, cucumber, avocado, broccoli or peas?) By doing this you work within their preferences but you set the expectation and habit of including vegetables and healthy food as part of the meal.
You might make an effort to both include new things for them to try, and include old familiar favorites they like.
Remember parents are the nutritional gate keepers, you do most of the food shopping and preparation, therefore you need to make sure there are delicious and nutritious options available for them to choose from. (If you need some support with healthy meal preparation and catering remember Healthy Meals To Your Door does healthy family dinners!)
As we know, educating children on good eating behaviours and allowing them to develop their own positive attitudes toward food is greatly beneficial for when the child steps into adulthood. Their habits and values will carry with them throughout their life.
For more information or support in understanding or healing your relationship with food visit www.sizefantastic.com.au
- http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/dor/divisionofresponsibilityinfeeding.php
Bet you think you eat healthier than most! What if you are wrong?
/in Healthy Eating Info and Training/by Lisa CutforthMost people in today’s general population would answer yes if you asked them whether our population’s eating habits are on average, unhealthy. But would we be so quick to judge our own eating habits? According to a study published this year, it seems not. Sixty participants were sat down in front of a 72-food buffet and asked to plate one meal for themselves and one for their peer. Now, you would think that these two plates of food would be nearly identical, correct? Well according to the study, people actually chose foods that were higher in calories for their peers (1). The participant’s actions in this study indicate that people tend to assume that their peers would choose foods that are more unhealthy and higher in calories than they do, feeding the perception of “I eat healthier than you”. This perception of one’s self can be concerning, given that it goes against western population data indicating that most people eat a diet that is way too energy-dense, high in fat and low in whole fruits and vegetables. It also means that if someone else is dishing up your food, they may be feeding you a more unhealthy diet than you might choose for yourself. (Note, that the participants serving the food did not necessarily make healthy choices they just made more unhealthy choices for their peers, assuming their peers choices would have been worse than theirs.)
In a similar vein, a study conducted right here in Australia by the Cancer Council and Heart Foundation found that people think it is now ‘normal’ to skip breakfast, overeat and snack on treats frequently. Half of the study population believed that their diet was ‘healthy’ when in fact only 7% were eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables per day (2).
There is clearly a major disconnect between what one perceives to be a healthy diet and what is actually a healthy diet. Due to the strong connection between an unhealthy diet and illness/disease, it is concerning that our views and perceptions are not more accurate. It means that instead of actively seeking out help or trying to modify their behaviour, people are more likely to do nothing because they believe their diet is ‘healthy’, or at least “healthier than others” when in reality, it may not be.
How do you perceive your diet? Do you view it as unhealthy or healthy, and why do you see it that way?
References:
[1] Sproesser, G., Kohlbrenner, V., Schupp, H., & Renner, B. (2015). I eat healthier than you: differences in healthy and unhealthy food choices for oneself and for others. Nutrients, 7: 4638-4660.
[2] Cancer Council Australia. (2015). The Shape of Victoria Study. Retrieved from www.cancervic.org.au
Weight Loss Meal Plan Home Delivery
/in Foodie News/by Lisa CutforthIt’s no secret that if you are wanting to lose weight, you need to watch what you eat. But if you haven’t been eating a healthy diet it can be hard to get started on a healthy eating plan. It takes effort to work out what to eat and plan your meals, effort to shop for ingredients and effort to prepare food. Often it all feels to hard.
As a nutritionist I know many of my clients struggled with correcting their diet, it didn’t matter that they had the best meal plan in Brisbane, if they didn’t cook it and eat it, nothing changed.
It’s one of the reasons I founded this healthy meal delivery service. I wanted to make it easier for you to eat healthily, not just to lose weight, but for life.
If you live in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, you can get your healthy meal plan cooked and delivered to your home or office!
We look forward to serving you, you can choose from a range of different dietary plans to suit your preferences including healthy balance, gluten free and vegan…
Our plans are calorie (1200-1700 calories per day) and portion controlled, as well as nutritionally balanced.
Whole food diets and meal plans
/in Foodie News/by Lisa Cutforth‘How are you not seeing this? Of course doughnuts are a hole food!’ (Source Cartoonstock.com)
If only everyone could agree on what the perfect diet is, life (and eating) would be simple. At Healthy Meals To Your Door we focus on whole foods. We believe there is no “perfect diet” for everyone, and that is why we offer a range of different dietary preferences. After all we are all different, why shouldn’t our eating habits be?
There is one thing we are certain about though, and that is that everyone is better off eating food in its most natural form, and that is why we put such an emphasis on whole foods. It’s ok to eat for taste sometimes, it’s ok to eat for comfort sometimes, as long as you are eating to nourish most of the time.
At Healthy Meals To Your Door we like to help you take the stress and time out of ticking the “nourishing” box, for the majority of the time, so that you get your nutrition into your body, in delicious ways, and then what you eat for the other 20% of the time doesn’t threaten your health so much.
After all it’s not just calories that matter, it’s nutrients, and we like to jam as many into our meals as we can.
Because… Your Body NEEDS Nutrients… and a variety of them in order to function. The more “whole” a food, the more nutrients it contains, packaged up in ways the body knows how to use.
If you can follow one rule of eating, let it be this: Eat whole foods
Nutrient utilization in humans (the body uses and needs protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and a bunch of other nutrients found in whole foods.)
Image Source: http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/dynamic-adaptation-of-nutrient-utilization-in-humans-14232807#
Fresh food delivery Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast
/in Foodie News/by Lisa CutforthIf you are looking for a fresh food delivery service in Brisbane, Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast (and anywhere in between, and yes we deliver to Noosa), we offer a range of calorie controlled, healthy meals delivered to your door.
If the following is important to you:
Fresh Meals: Our meals are cooked fresh each week, just for you, and made to order. Day 1, 2 and 3 are fresh meals (not frozen), Day 4 onwards are freezable (or frozen) or non-perishable (eg. breakfast) to ensure freshness and allow flexibility. We know sometimes you have other plans for dinner or “life happens”, so we have given you some room to move with freezable options. And we don’t use preservatives or other baddatives so this helps keep your food fresh and safe.
Taste and Variety: We have a four week rotating meal plan to ensure lots of variety within our menus so you don’t get bored, and all our meals are chef prepared and made to be delicious and nutritious.
Special dietary needs: We cater for a range of dietary preferences and special diets including vegan and vegetarian, and gluten and dairy free.
Home Delivery: We offer a delivery service to your home or office and deliver our meals in a cold box with ice packs to keep it fresh for you.
Healthy: Our meals and plans are developed by a nutritionist so they are designed to be nutrient dense.
Calorie controlled: All our plans are portion and calorie controlled. Typically a one day plan will range between 1350-1650 calories a day. (There are ways for you to eat less or more than this if you desire, though we generally don’t encourage very low calorie intake (like 1200 calories or less) because from what we know about health and nutrition, it would be difficult to get nourished on that amount of food and you are likely to set up starvation programs in your body and actually hinder weight loss attempts in the long term.)
Family friendly: We even have a family friendly plan so you can all eat together! (This is very popular with our vegetarian and vegan families!)
You can order a one week trial of any plan you like, just place your order and write ONE WEEK TRIAL in the notes and we organise that for you. Many of our customers order rolling subscriptions and we feed them every week, they simply contact us to pause when they are going away.
We look forward to serving you!
Healthy Meal Delivery in Noosa
/in Foodie News/by Lisa CutforthWe have had a few inquiries from one of my favorite Queensland places to visit, Noosa! Yes! We do deliver healthy meals to Noosa! (Delivery surcharge of $15).
Delivery is Tuesday, you can order a range of dietary preferences (one week trial or ongoing) and a range of different plans including dinners only or breakfast, lunch, dinners and snacks, delivered to your home or office.
We make it easy for you to eat healthily! We have a four week rotating menu so there is loads of variety and you won’t get bored if you are on an ongoing order.
A daily plan ranges from about 1200 to 1600 calories (about 300-550 per meal depending whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner and about 100-200 calories per snack). We use fresh delicious produce and our recipes don’t use salt, sugar or preservatives.
You see menu and meal plan examples here: meal plan examples
You can check out our price ranges here: healthy meal delivery prices
Imagine what you can spend your time doing when you aren’t shopping, planning and cooking healthy meals from scratch! You can order our five day plans and save your “passion for cooking” for the week end!
More time for your hobbies, family and leisure activities!
Crowd out method: Add these 20 Healthiest Foods to Your Eating List
/in Foodie News/by Lisa CutforthRather than dieting, use the Crowd Out Method. (I have coined this phrase after reading how Harvard health supports crowding out unhealthy foods, and I agree.) (1)
So here, instead of a list of foods to avoid is a list of foods for you to eat… Eat from this list daily, and your challenge, should you choose to accept it is to create as many of your meals with these foods in them as you can.
Here are my top 20 healthiest foods to add to your day:
Some other tips: garlic is amazing, any veg especially endives, artichoke hearts, asparagus, spaghetti squash, tomatoes. If you are going to eat potatoes opt for purple or red skin new (small) potatoes or sweet potatoes.
If you are going to eat meat, go for organic where possible and always grass fed, same applies for chicken. Game meats and bone broth are great and full of goodness too…
Soya has got a bad wrap, but actually organic soya beans or tofu, have amazing health benefits and have actually been found to be protective against cancer.
As fish go, salmon and mackeral are great, but unfortunately farmed are not always and now there is the issue of a polluted sea and mercury levels etc… wild caught ocean cod may be an option too.
References:
Embrace your body
/in Foodie News/by Lisa CutforthNutrition Consultations
/in Foodie News/by Lisa CutforthDo you need help deciding which plan is best for you?
Why not speak to our nutritionist?
Sometimes it can be daunting trying to figure out what you should be doing. You don’t have to figure it out on your own. You can talk through your health goals, your dietary preferences and our nutritionist can help you meet your specific needs.
Face to face (nutritionist in Brisbane), skype and telephone consultations also available.
Do you have a healthy issue and want to know how changing your diet can help?
Fees:
$200 initial consultation
$150 follow on consultation
Health rebates may apply if you have private health insurance, check out your plan, you may be able to claim a percentage of your consultation back.
Nutritionist (Brisbane based):
Lisa Cutforth (BSc. Hons Nutrition with Psychology)
Lisa Cutforth is our lead nutritionist and the founder of Size Fantastic.
She is qualified in Nutrition and Psychology and therefore can advise you on what your body needs from food in order to feel well, as well as being able to help you action any advise. Sometimes change can be challenging and Lisa who is also completing her Diploma in the Neuroscience of Leadership can help you understand your mind and your brain and how they influence what you do. This plays an important part in getting well again.
The Healthiest Country in the World
/in Foodie News/by Lisa CutforthAn article written by The Italian Tribune displayed some recent data from Bloomberg Rankings, showing the top healthiest countries and the least healthiest countries in the world. Each country is given a health score and a health risk score.
Singapore was named the number one healthiest country in the world (yes we were surprised too). Coming in at a close second was Italy, followed by Australia, Switzerland, Japan, Israel and Spain. While Swaziland, Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Mozambique were rated the top 5 least healthiest countries in the world, respectively.
We were interested to know how these rankings were assigned. The health score given to each country was based on mortality rates, smoking rates, immunization rates, the number of people with access to healthcare, healthcare efficiency and satisfaction and life expectancy. These are all very important factors, but it would interesting to see the worlds healthiest countries ranked in terms of just diet and lifestyle, instead of quality of healthcare. Would Australia still come in third place? Probably not. Japan might slide up a few spots though, given that it has one of the lowest rates of obesity (3.3%) compared to Australia (20%) and the U.S (35%).
It’s important to note that good quality healthcare is not the number one predictor of health. Many countries with excellent health care (like Australia and the US) are actually staggering under huge numbers of unhealthy individuals. We are overweight, obese; we have diabetes, cancer, mental illnesses.
There are many reasons why a country might have a fantastic health care system, one being that they are most likely a developed country. Usually you see an increase in health in a population as healthcare infrastructure increases. Unfortunately this doesn’t always correlate. Australia has an amazing public health care system, as does Canada, and the UK comparative to many other countries.
Sadly despite the comparatively good health care systems in the States, the UK, and Australia, this infrastructure often is bulging under the pressure to treat the millions of people everyday who are burdened with chronic diseases. Ironically many in first are a product of the first world and modernisation or “westernisation”, and arguably could be prevented with lifestyle changes or a return to more traditional ways (specifically eating less processed foods, cooking meals, and eating as a family, being part of a community, less stressful lives).
In underdeveloped countries the illness and disease profiles look quite different, and it is surprising that with improvements and infrastructure that more developed countries aren’t performing better than this in their countries “health scores”.
So the question is whether we should be looking at the quality of treatment that a country gives to its citizens as a marker of the health of the country or the effectiveness in preventive health care and health promotion infrastructure available to the general public of said country (e.g. diet, exercise and lifestyle factors, social support mechanisms and other support services and infrastructure and policy) to enable its citizen’s to better take care of themselves and each other. What do you think?
We did love some of the notes on how the Italians do life, and we do love and promote the benefits of enjoying a Mediterranean diet… viva Italy! In our minds, it’s not just the great health care infrastructure that lifts their health markers… it’s the lifestyle factors, that are so often underestimated like: culture, social support, community and of course great eating practices that also play a key role.
Read the article by The Italian Tribune here: http://www.italiantribune.com/italy-second-healthiest-country-in-the-world/
Feeding Children – The balance of responsibility
/in Healthy Eating Info and Training/by Lisa CutforthI often am approached by parents wanting information on best feeding practices for their children. Sometimes parents complain they battle with “fussy eaters”, sometimes it is that their “toddler is too busy to eat”, sometimes it is that their children are constantly nagging for junk food, or “won’t eat anything healthy”.
On the one hand I encourage parents to keep the peace in the home and resist the urge to try to control their children, especially with regards to eating. Food wars, almost always will cause problem eaters down the track. At the same time, parents are the nutritional gatekeepers, and so I do encourage them to take advantage of their ability to influence their children’s eating habits. They can do this in several ways:
At every stage of childhood, parents have responsibilities with feeding while children have responsibilities with eating. As the child gets older, their responsibilities increase. So be aware that you will have different degrees of influence and responsibility at different ages. That is why being a role model, and a facilitator and leader is a better strategy than trying to control everything, or nothing.
Here’s what I mean: In the case of the infant: the parent is responsible for what the infant eats and how they eat it. A baby has no ability to control that, they can cry, they can refuse to eat, but the parent will decide whether the baby is offered breast or bottle, if bottle, which formula, the parent will decide when to wean, and the parent will decide what to wean with. (Once the preferred infant food is decided by the parent, the infant is only in charge of how much they consume.
As a child starts eating more solid foods they become accountable for not only how much they eat but also whether they eat. Usually the older they get, the more they assert their will and their preferences, but they still can’t really “help themselves” or control “what their choices are”. Children choose how much they eat and whether they eat.
If parents successfully take on responsibility for their part of the feeding (e.g. choosing food, preparing food, being good role models around food and mealtime), children will learn how to eat, how to determine satiety and how to eat a variety of different foods, all of which lead to competent eating (1). But in order to achieve this, parents must give their child some responsibility of their own. This is crucial in teaching children good eating habits.
Here is one example highlighting why it is important they are given some of the responsibility. I have watched many well intentioned parents insist their children don’t leave the table until they finish everything on their plate (my mother included). While the parent has the best interests of the child at heart (or perhaps they don’t like to waste food), unfortunately this rule overrides the child’s natural abilities to judge “satiety” and learn when they have had enough and practice the act of “stopping eating”.
Under three, children will stop eating based on their own internal cues rather than being influenced by serving size or how much food is on their plate; after five however, a child will typically be much more influenced by serving size, and eat more or less dependent on external rather than internal cues. So I would encourage you to give your child the opportunity to practice this skill, if they have had enough, let them stop.
In the same breath, I am a mum, and I “get” that children might “play up”, get distracted, have preferences and so it is necessary to consider some practical guidelines around eating, and certainly important to manage expectations and boundaries.
Here are some ideas:
Encourage them to sit down and eat their food at the table (not on the run or in front of the TV), research shows this facilitates mindful eating, and furthermore research shows lower incidence in teenage depression of families who share at least one meal a day at the dinner table.
You might set an expectation that they eat vegetables every day, but you encourage them to choose any two types of vegetables from the options available for their plate each night (they can choose from what is available e.g. “Which two would you like, you can have pumpkin, raw carrot sticks, cucumber, avocado, broccoli or peas?) By doing this you work within their preferences but you set the expectation and habit of including vegetables and healthy food as part of the meal.
You might make an effort to both include new things for them to try, and include old familiar favorites they like.
Remember parents are the nutritional gate keepers, you do most of the food shopping and preparation, therefore you need to make sure there are delicious and nutritious options available for them to choose from. (If you need some support with healthy meal preparation and catering remember Healthy Meals To Your Door does healthy family dinners!)
As we know, educating children on good eating behaviours and allowing them to develop their own positive attitudes toward food is greatly beneficial for when the child steps into adulthood. Their habits and values will carry with them throughout their life.
For more information or support in understanding or healing your relationship with food visit www.sizefantastic.com.au