22/04/2025
More and more I am hearing about how young children and teenagers, who through learning about nutrition at school, are starting to see foods as either good or bad, or healthy/unhealthy, with little to no understanding of the nuance of nutrition. Food becomes something they feel why need to monitor or something they fear - often in the context of weight gain or being “too big”.
These kids start to restrict so called “bad” or ”unhealthy” food, or feel bad about themselves for eating them and relate this to their body size. Sadly many kids, regardless of their size, feel their bodies are “too big”. This is a recipe for developing disordered eating behaviours or an eating disorder.
Kids are learning to see food as nutrients (carbohydrate, sugar, fat), rather than a wonderful part of their existence that not only provides nourishment, but also a pleasure to the senses, and a key part of connecting with other people and exploring the world.
Kids shouldn’t be concerned about nutrition (that’s a grown ups job), kids only need to be considering their appetite, their enjoyment of food and experimenting with new foods as they come across them (and often with a little adult encouragement).
Zoe
Kerrie
Text in image
WE SHOULD NOT BE TEACHING KIDS ABOUT NUTRITION
Instead, let’s teach them about food, where it comes from, the different cuisines from different cultures, along with the joy of exploring food, cooking and sharing food with others
