Week 2 – Eating in Moderation

In this week’s material from Coursera.org’s Child Nutrition and Cooking class taught by Maya Adam we learned a lot about eating in moderation. This includes preparing balanced meals for your family, eating a good variety of foods during those meals, and not overeating.

As for not overeating, Maya suggests going back to eating with smaller plates to control portion sizes. Especially for children, if you fill up a smaller-sized plate with food, it will look like a lot on the small plate and will be enough food for them (or you, the adult) without over-doing it. The same thing goes with glasses (or cups). If your child asks for a glass of water, you can give them a bigger glass. If they ask for fruit juice (or any other sugary drink), try serving them the juice in a smaller glass.

Maya explained the different types of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and sugars this week. Our bodies need all of these, in moderation of course. If you are a generally healthy person, It’s alright to eat a delicious greasy pizza every once in a while. Just don’t make it your norm. Try to eat nutritious, home cooked meals most of the time, and then it’ll be okay to have a little soda and a slice of cake at your friend’s birthday party. And it won’t kill you to pick up some fast food during your next road trip, either.

One thing Maya reminds us is to approach eating in moderation with (drum roll please….) moderation! Try not to get so caught up eating in moderation that you don’t have time to live all the other parts of your life. Try to keep your meal times enjoyable and as stress-free as possible. This, combined with preparing nutritious food most the time, will help your children develop healthier eating habits to carry with them into adulthood. And what a great gift that would be to give!