12-+Milestone+4+-Childrens's+Eating

It’s difficult now a days to eat healthy and have our children eat healthy when we are always on the move. Everyone is looking at their lives and realize that there are not enough hours to get everything done. So at times people cut corners on certain activities to get other things done. With that said it is easier for most people to go out and buy something quick, than rather stay at home ant waste time attempting to cook a balanced meal. It is our laziness as adults; that is being instilled into the youth today. They see everyone eating the unhealthiest items, the greasiest, and the down right deadliest items for our bodies. So when we as adults attempt to tell them what to eat, they see what we consume and they seen no harm in the unhealthy choices they make for dietary needs.

In an observation at a local fast food establishment, A.K.A McDonalds, the children seem un-interested in the healthier items, and stuck with the burgers and fries. Even when the parents would tell them the healthier choices they were having they would have a fit. The children insisted in what they wanted to get. And the only healthier choice on the menu would be the Happy Meal order of the four piece chicken nuggets with the apple dippers and caramel sauce, and maybe lose the sauce, and apple juice box as a drink. This is the most nutritional item on the menu, which is not saying much. It is my opinion that the money could be spent elsewhere on better natural organic items. All the kids wanted was a greasy and oily burger with overly salted, deep fried fries. Even with the healthier food items on the menu, it was not very appealing to them. With that mentioned the most popular items were the Cheeseburger with fries and milk which contained 640 calories, 26 grams of fat, and 9 grams of saturated fat. The healthier choice was the four piece chicken nuggets, apple dippers with caramel sauce, and milk. But this consisted of 380 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 4 grams of saturated fat. With the healthy any their choice being about half the intake of the cheeseburger meal, barely and of the children wanted the healthier choice. Once again if it were my choice I would not attempt to feed this food to myself let alone to my children’s bodies.

As if I were to create a food menu for the children in my class it would look similar to the chart below. The food sounds appealing, and even new items can be introduced to the children. And I know we tell students not to play with their food but if they see something they are interested let them explore and come up with their own conclusions about food rather than being told. Healthy Weekly Menu Apples Beverage Of Choice || Meatball Subs Beverage Of Choice || Meat and Cheese Pita-Wiches Apples Beverage Of Choice || Chili Potatoes Beverage Of Choice || Teryaki wings Cooked rice Pineapple chunks Beverage Of Choice ||
 * || Monday  ||  Tuesday  ||  Wednesday  ||  Thursday  ||  Friday  ||
 * Snack ||   Apples, cheddar cheese, wheat thins, orange juice   ||  Radishes and lettuce with ranch dressing, goldfish, apple juice  ||  Tangerines, banana/peach yogurt smoothie  ||  Applesauce, cheddar cheese and crackers, grape juice  ||  Banana/ Strawberry smoothie, crackers  ||
 * Lunch ||  Stroganoff Stew
 * Snack ||  Bananas, goldfish, string cheese, grape juice  ||  Pears, whole wheat crackers with cream cheese, grape juice  ||  Carrots and hummus, string cheese, orange juice  ||  Apples, yogurt (strawberry or peach), apple juice  ||   Mini pitas Hummus Tomato Juice   ||