Healthy Food and Nutrition

Summarize why good nutrition and eating habits are so important to children in each age group. Cite evidence from Chapter 6 in your text and/or other resources to support your claims.

Good nutrition and eating habits are very important to children in each group. According to the Safety, Nutrition, and Health in Early Education textbook on page 244, “Good nutrition can help children maintain health and fight off infections, colds, and other communicable diseases” (Robertson, 2013).  It also enables children to grow and develop adequately.  As a result, is imperative that children receive good nutrition and eating habits so they grow and development mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Refer to Chapter 8 in your course text and explain why adults should actively help children develop healthy eating habits and at least two ways this can be accomplished.

Adults should actively help children develop healthy eating habits and a least two ways.  Such as modeling eating habits and providing age-appropriate foods.  Thus, the early childhood professional could implement new food tasting days before introducing new foods to his or her children.

Provide three nutritious recipes that family members can prepare with

 preschoolers and explain the nutritional value of each. (To locate recipes, look through the various suggested Web sites or do research as needed.)

There are three nutritious recipes that family members can prepare with preschoolers.  The recipes are Celery-race-cars, Apple Marshmallow, and Fruit Salad Cups.  First, I will begin with the Celery-race-car recipe.  Celery-race-cars are healthy treats that consist of cut celery, 4 crackers or pretzels, raisins, peanut butter or cream cheese.  The nutritional value of this snack provides children with a fruit, a dairy, a vegetable, a protein, and a grain. 

Next, the Apple Marshmallow recipe is a simple snack that preschoolers can help make with their families.  This recipe consists of an apple, peanut butter, and six miniature marshmallows. Although this snack calls for sugar, it provides them with a fruit and a protein. 

Last of all, the Fruit Salad Cup is also a recipe that preschooler can help make with their families.  It consists of an orange (halved and hollowed out for a bowl) (save the inside to add to fruit salad), apple wedges, pineapple chunks, cubed melons, halved or quartered grapes, vanilla extract, and lemon juice.  Although this recipe only requires all fruits and no other servings from my plate, it is still a healthy and colorful snack. 

Offer strategies and suggestions to make cooking together an enjoyable learning experience for children. 

            Cooking can be an enjoyable learning experience for children.  Instead of parents preparing all of the families meals, they can actually include their children with meal preparations. For instance, when my children were growing up, we would make pizzas, tacos, homemade applesauce and other dishes together. During that time, our cooking day would occur on a Friday or a Saturday.  As a result, assigning children with minimum tasks (help setting the table, clearing the table) during meal preparations or as helpers can help transition them to eat new foods without hesitation.

                                            Reference

Online source Retrieved on March 26, 2013, from www.sproutonline.com/crafts-and-receipes.

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5^th ed.). Belmont, CA.          

 Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.