Cook and Live: what do you feed your children?

Eating one's own feet is better than some of the food options out there

Excuse me while I climb aboard my high horse for a moment. (For any new readers... I don't rant very often - at least not on my blog! - so please bear with me here.)

I've written before, briefly, about healthy food options for kids when eating out. But what about at home?

There has been so much talk lately about how families eat. The extreme cases on television, such as on Jamie Oliver's shows and The Biggest Loser, make me angry. When I see these shows, I tend to yell and turn the television off.

Because it's one thing to eat badly yourself, but it's a whole other story when you're giving your kids these things.

When we become parents, I believe it's our responsibility to learn about health and nutrition. We're all so concerned about it in relation to those early days of breastfeeding or bottle feeding, but somewhere around the toddler years it seems to get lost.

All of a sudden, it's okay to feed children lollies, softdrinks and takeaway. It's okay for us, as parents, to be 'too busy' to think about what's going into their bodies.

There have been some articles around about homecooking becoming a lost art, that women shouldn't be expected to be home baking instead of out living their lives (as a side note, cooking is a shared responsibility in this household, and I never for even a moment would suggest it's solely a woman's job; I believe it's up to both parents, or if not, then it's an agreement as to who will handle it). But I'm not of the belief that it's an either/or situation. Cook or live? To me, it's cook AND live.

I was raised in a house of simple but healthy meals, with two full-time working parents, and now as a parent myself I can tell you that things are definitely not always fancy in this house either. Meals can vary from chops and vegies to a beautiful three-course dinner here, but on a day-to-day basis they err on the side of the former.

And I certainly don't want to appear as though I'm trying to come across as perfect. We, too, give in to the temptation of fish and chips or the like at times, and Abbey has absolutely eaten things that aren't wonderfully nutritious. But they are the rare exceptions amidst a healthy lifestyle.

It really isn't hard. And even if it is at times, isn't it worth a bit of effort? Don't people worry about these things anymore? Are we so caught up in the supposed convenience of takeaway or a frozen meal that we really believe they're providing the nutrients our children, and we, need? Or is it something that so many people find too hard to think about?

This is all a fairly recent trend - think back to our grandparents' generation; they didn't have these things. I know life was different back then, but as humans our nutritional needs haven't changed.

For the sake of our kids, we need to make changes. We need to look at what we're feeding our families, and I mean really look. Is this the food that's going to get them through a big day? Week? Year? Through their childhood? We need to teach them (and by that, I mean teach by example) how to cook, how to eat, how to look after themselves. To give them the best start in life - physically, emotionally, mentally and practically.

Our children are worth it. Aren't they?