Healthy Snacks for our Children
By jhoannapena
@jhoannapena (342)
Philippines
July 11, 2008 9:36pm CST
I have been reading about new ways to make our children eat healthier foods instead of the traditional fattening, non-nutritional foods currently in the market right now. It tells us about how diets of our children is predetermined by the methods used by the child's parent.
You know what, I somewhat agree and disagree. Why? because let's face it, junk foods are more attractive looking and more tasty than some healthy regular snack foods. Most of all they cost cheaper than healthier foods.
I did some research on many snack foods in some b2b sites and many are listed that are considered healthy. Such as the case of krispy tahong, this product in english is called crispy mussel meat, it is made from all natural food with ingredients of only mussel meat and vegetable oil. What benefits do we get from this food? Rich in selenium for anti-oxidant, iodine prevents goiter or any thyroid related disease, it helps contain fats and cholesterol. To top it all, it cost less than US$1.00.
I brough some, a combination of krispy tahong and squid rings and it is delicious!!!! In fact, I let my daughter eat them and she liked it. It isn't spicy at all hence the reason why my daughter loves it so much!!!! Most of all the bite size is just right for a 5 year old. My daughter did not have a hard time biting on them because it was not full of flour which makes food a bit hard. It is as it says "all natural". My husband likes to snack on them also and when we have company we bring out a couple of beers and use it as appetizers which is actually delicious!!!
Now, my question is are we ready to convert to healthier snack foods or do we continue buying those junk foods with full of flour and artificial flavoring which can cause many disease such as cancer?
Are we ready to improve the diets of our children?? Do we love our children enough to give them the best nutrition we can buy for them??
Are we ready to prevent disease from coming our way or do we continue with our bad eating habits AND wait if we get cancer from all of those artificial flavorings we stuff our mouths with?
YOUR CHOICE!!!
2 responses
@Ciniful (1587)
• Canada
12 Jul 08
Although I won't argue about most of your post, since common sense tells us that teaching our children healthy eating starts at home, I wanted to point out one common myth you're helping spread. Artificial flavors do NOT cause cancers. That myth is about 50 years old now, and continues to spread because people don't do their research. Someone hears it from someone else, and that someone else tells the next person, and before you know it, you have a group of people who believe this to be the truth, although they've never once bothered to check into it for themselves.
Link for common myths about what causes cancer:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Cancer-Causes
And a quote directly from the site:
3) Artificial Sweeteners
"Although the artificial sweetener cyclamate was banned in 1969 due to research that indicated a link to bladder cancer, no follow-up studies have managed to duplicate the findings. Studies on saccharine and aspartame have also failed to be conclusively linked to cancer."
As far as eating healthy, it's a matter of what you allow. My children don't eat junk food, because I never introduced it to them. For snacks, I bought fruit and vegetables, pickles, coldcuts, etc, so THAT is what my children learned to eat. Kids are sponges ... they pick up what we ALLOW them to pick up. That simple.
@Ciniful (1587)
• Canada
12 Jul 08
Sorry, this is the part I meant to copy from the other site. Note the ending line, about in some cases, artificial flavors are healthier than natural ones.
4) Artificial Flavorings
The difference between artificial and natural flavorings is often misunderstood. The chemical compounds created are identical (or very nearly so), the differentiation being due to the source of the ingredients from which the flavorings were derived. In some cases, "artificial" flavorings have fewer health risks than "natural" ones.
@jhoannapena (342)
• Philippines
15 Jul 08
Hi,
Thank you for your comments and I do appreciate enlightening me and our readers on the myths relating to cancers.
I do agree with you that children are like sponges and they do imitate what they see. Hence, the reason that as parents we should always set good examples to our children.
Going back to snacks being a Filipina, I think a lot of foreign visitors who had a chance to visit our country would agree that Filipinos like to eat which is evident with the many cultural celebration done in our country and in effect food is a big part of that celebration.
I guess what I am saying is that food is such a big part in our life that sometimes we fail to realize the effects of the many kinds of food we put in our mouths. Hence, awareness should play a vital role in our decision to choose the type of food we give our children. Moderation should also be on our minds when we deal with our children.
Again, thank you.
@ammyers05 (71)
• United States
12 Jul 08
I think we definitely need to not only have our children eating healthy foods and being more active, but I also believe we need to model it ourselves. When we model healthy eating and an active lifestyle, they are motivated because it is familiar. Personally, I do not buy organic; however, I do keep fresh fruit and vegetables around the house. My daughter loves fresh vegetables and not cooked, plus we like them to munch on for snacks. We rarely keep potato chips or junk food around the house. I think that because my husband and I eat healthy, my kids eat healthy (they really don't know any better). We also involve our children in exercise when we exercise.
@jhoannapena (342)
• Philippines
15 Jul 08
Hi,
Just a question, how come you don't buy organic foods?
Hope you don't mind my question, I am just curious.
