Kids And Vegetables

[jaideeguy]

Been married to thai woman for 6 yrs and have adopted her two children and from day one, it has been a problem [issue] getting the kids to eat vegetables. she will spoil them with junk food every time she goes to the store. i can see the reason.....she comes from a poor family and was never able to afford these luxuries and she is from the last generation that didn't have all the plastic wrapped crispy, sweet tempting poisons that fill up the 7-11 shelves now a days.

so, i'm 'the bad guy' for just trying to get them to eat a balanced meal and i'm almost ready to give up. i'm sure there are others in the same position as me and maybe someone can advise me if they have been successful in balancing their diet. i know that the more something [junk food] is forbidden, the more they will crave it and she 'buys' their love with candy.

help!!!

[Dr. Burrito]

My wife and I had this issue for a short while with our kids. After, as lovingly as I could, repeatedly explaining and then showing her obese little trolls in the moobaan, she finally came to see the light and our children get snacks as occasional treats.

It was a pain at first because our eldest was so used to getting the crap he wanted, but we've turned the corner and they are both eating well all the time now.

If you truly love the kids, you're going to have put your foot down, else suffer the consequences, as that crap can result in a whole spectrum of physical and mental headaches in their future.

Good luck

Dr. B

[think_too_mut]

Our girl loves veggies, even broccoli (!!!).

That may have started from street vendors food where we lived before (quite nice, catering for banks and hospital employees). Since she was 6 months old.

Thanks to her mum, she had regular Thai fares with one restriction - "no spices, it's for a baby".

No western baby formula - I was (turned to be falsely) proud to find it but 6 months later it all had to be thrown - "use by" date expired.

Even eats carrots and while eating them she makes finger ears like a rabbit - "kittai".

But that just underlines how few kids like the veggies. At her former nursery, she was one of a few who liked to eat salads or cooked vegetables. Other few co-eating kids were Japanese.

At Mcdonalds, she would eat only taro pie (never asked for it, just when there), no chips, no burgers.

[londonthai]

snacks are just a treat - after the main meal was eaten. And not neebling on them between the main meals.

still better to intoduce proper deserts with fruit cakes - send your wife to the cooking school to learn some receipies. She will learn there as well about nutrition.

[answer]

My husband's youngest son seldom eats any vegetable or fruit. When my husband tells him to eat, he says "My vegie is the krapaw" (in the pad krapaw dish).

We adults know how good this and that is and we eat smart.

I've met some other people who seldom eats vegetable or hates vegetable and they all look great.

Should we eat vegetable or what we like? What our body needs will make us want to eat them.

[billd766]

Our son is 3 1/4 and fortunately we live outside the village so he eats real food as we do. Very little is frozen or processed except for me and at 63 I feel I have eaened it.

He only has 1 bag of potato snacks a day and he comes home, opens the fridge and eats the mini pots of yoghurt. Doesn't get coke or many fattening things and we are proud of him.

He eats most of the veggies put on his plate and also eats fruit when Daddy does which is every day.

However when he grows more it may change.

He was only 15 kg last week.

There are a few fat kids in the main village but I see so many when I go to Bangkok every 3 months or so.

[MrSquigle]

It seems to be all about education and there is no reason with some patience and time, you can reverse the snack/junk food trend.

My kids love their vegies, some they dont of course, but they love beans, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots etc etc.

Snacks are just that, snacks from time to time.

I also educated my 5yo son from early on that these snacks and such are bad food, unhealthy and not good for you, not make you grow up strong etc.

Seems to be working, the other day he said, I dont want that rubbish food for lunch today (he was refering to subway sandwhich) and he said he wants to go and have something healthy. They also love fruit and eat it whenever it is around, which is daily.

My son has never drank coke or any soft drinks, in fact at the movies the other day, we bought one of those promo drink bottle for him, but they would only fill it with fanta, coke or sprite....I picked sprite as being the lesser of the 3 evil drinks and he tasted it and went 'yuk...can you buy me water daddy'

He also does not let me drink coke, we have a deal....he does not eat junk and I will not drink coke.

So making a bit of a game out of it also works and if you expect your child to not eat rubbish, you need to lead by example or any lectures are just wasted.

Edited December 17, 2007 by MrSquigle

[torrenova]

It is definately a follow the leader thing. They follow their peers and as parents it is up to us to set an example which with education over time will allow them to make good and balanced decisions.

[MsFigure]

It is definately a follow the leader thing. They follow their peers and as parents it is up to us to set an example which with education over time will allow them to make good and balanced decisions.

I absolutely agree. Both and my husband have always stayed away from fast foods, soft drinks, chemically enhanced foods, cakes, sweets, etc and have a diet that consists of fresh vegetables, fruits, grains (oats, nuts) animal products like eggs and meats and dairy like cheese and yogurt. As a result, our daughter only eats the foods we eat - lots of vegies, fruits, meats, etc. She has doesn't eat chocolates or confectionary, pastries, or soft drinks and only drinks water, watered down vegie juices - and sometimes has special treats of natural icecream or frozen fruit yogurts. There are somethings that we don't eat but allow her to eat like rice or wholegrain bread, as well as some thai foods (non spicy) that she enjoys. There are also somethings that we also sometimes (rarely) treat ourselves to like my favourite blueberry cheesecake or mocha almond fudge icecream - but we never eat it in front of her, and on the one and only time she wanted to taste it - she spat it out not liking the taste at all

Sometimes it is difficult (especially since she's started school) to make sure she isn't offered or consumes foods that we either don't eat or don't want her to eat, but as she's getting older - we do sometimes let her try something she wants to try because her friends will be eating it, and thankfully she now won't eat it saying it doesn't taste nice.

The thing is, if you only expose or encourage certains foods to your child from day 1, chances are they will only eat those things, and won't want to eat other things full of sugar, chemicals, etc. We also have foods (fruits, vegies, etc) that are easily accessed in the fridge/cupboards - so it's not unusual to find our daughter munching on a tomato like an apple, crunching on a carrot or cucumber, nibbling on cooked/shelled hardboiled eggs or eating a chicken or tuna salad that I always have already prepared in small containers ready to eat. And if we go out for lunch, she will only eat japanese (she REALLY loves her salmon) and even though it does cost a small fortune, it's definitely worth it

I don't think it's ever too late to teach your child healthier eating habits, but it can't work unless you as parents lead by example and start eating healthier yourself.

[torrenova]

I'm not sure that taking to the degree where you hide eating a cheesecake from your child is healthy either. It reminds me of the UK and drinking.

In my day, people frowned on drinking before 18 so what did we do ? we drank at every oportunity. Heck, I was in charge of the alcohol and cigarettes at school discos from the top of the maths block when I was 14. Come 18 and what did we do ? out on the lash drinking far too much too quickly because the government had introduced a law in 1916 to restrict when pubs coule open. The result ? carnage every Friday and saturday nights. It still goes on and is now called binge drinking.

Compare that to most of Europe and particularly southern Europe where they are introduced to alcohol at an early age but are taught about it and they learn to respect it. A Spaniard or Frenchman may have a glass or two of wine with a meal. the British man would have the whole bottle and then some more. An exaggeration for sure but not far from the respective truth.

So by denying that certain things exist I think you are storing up problems that you seem to have realised your child will face at school. My advice is to lighten up a bit and not sneak around eating cake because very shortly your child will find out and then you'll lose some of their trust.

[MsFigure]

I'm not sure that taking to the degree where you hide eating a cheesecake from your child is healthy either. It reminds me of the UK and drinking.

In my day, people frowned on drinking before 18 so what did we do ? we drank at every oportunity. Heck, I was in charge of the alcohol and cigarettes at school discos from the top of the maths block when I was 14. Come 18 and what did we do ? out on the lash drinking far too much too quickly because the government had introduced a law in 1916 to restrict when pubs coule open. The result ? carnage every Friday and saturday nights. It still goes on and is now called binge drinking.

Compare that to most of Europe and particularly southern Europe where they are introduced to alcohol at an early age but are taught about it and they learn to respect it. A Spaniard or Frenchman may have a glass or two of wine with a meal. the British man would have the whole bottle and then some more. An exaggeration for sure but not far from the respective truth.

So by denying that certain things exist I think you are storing up problems that you seem to have realised your child will face at school. My advice is to lighten up a bit and not sneak around eating cake because very shortly your child will find out and then you'll lose some of their trust.

We don't hide the cheesecake or other foods, we just don't eat it in front of her. She knows what the cheesecake or my mocha fudge icecream tastes like because she asked to try it when she first saw it, but she didn't like it. Those things are very rarely in our freezer anyway, and would only be eaten after dinner. Because she would already be asleep, its not like we go out of our way to hide the fact we are eating it.

I totally understand what you are saying and the problems it can cause later on in life - I hear it from my mother on trips back to australia - but our goal is to teach her how to eat as cleanly/naturally in her early years and into the habit of healthy eating and it has (so far) worked.

She knows what the cheesecake or my mocha fudge icecream tastes like because she asked to try it when she first saw it, but she didn't like it. With her now being in school, we knew we might have some problems, but so far so good. The school menu is excellent and her teachers know what we do and don't approve of our daughter eating. If any of her friends have birthdays and there is a birthday cake, instead of the children eating it straight away they are given pieces of cake to take home, which my daughter will give to our maid. If she wants to try it we let her, but thankfully she finds it too sweet and doesn't want to eat it. Even with special treats, like Vanilla Icecream that we allow her to eat, if it's too sweet she won't eat it. Her friends can also eat cakes, lollies or chocolates in front of her, but because we've let her to try it once - she knows what it tastes like and that she doesn't like the taste of it, so it doesn't bother her and she doesn't want to eat those things even if all her friends are.

The point is, if you train your children from day 1 and make them eat certain foods - they will not get a taste for things they aren't used too. If they are only used to eating vegies, fruits, meats, etc and drinking water - given the choice between a wide variety of foods (like she was faced with her last week of school with teddy bears picnic and christmas performance), they will eat those things that they know and like.

[jaideeguy]

My problem is that i had no control from day one.....adopting the kids at year 1 and 3 and some damage had already been done in the provence. i was the new strange falang father and they had come from the poor provence, where the grandparents spoil them with sweets. it's the new generational thing to do here in LOS, where the grandparents never had access to those shinny plastic bags full of junk. it continues to my wife's generation who were recently introduced to the junk.

Wife eats a normal healthy thai diet with lots of veges and rice of course. then there is the peer pressure from cousins and classmates, where they go to school. the school they attend is a n upscale private school that is run by the royal family and yet they allow the junk vendors to sell their poison on campus and in front of school, so the kids get easily access during breaks to junk out.

i have reached somewhat of a compromise by insisting that they eat a portion of vegetables or they get no 'kanom' [desert] after the evening meal...the only meal we share and i can have some control.

the biggest problem is that the wife can't say no when they go out to the market and always buys a pack of candy or chips. i protest and it makes me the 'bad guy'. she 'buys' their love!!

so, i've backed off just to make peace and just hope that they will learn on their own with a little guidance.

[torrenova]

My problem is that i had no control from day one.....adopting the kids at year 1 and 3 and some damage had already been done in the provence. i was the new strange falang father and they had come from the poor provence, where the grandparents spoil them with sweets. it's the new generational thing to do here in LOS, where the grandparents never had access to those shinny plastic bags full of junk. it continues to my wife's generation who were recently introduced to the junk.

Wife eats a normal healthy thai diet with lots of veges and rice of course. then there is the peer pressure from cousins and classmates, where they go to school. the school they attend is a n upscale private school that is run by the royal family and yet they allow the junk vendors to sell their poison on campus and in front of school, so the kids get easily access during breaks to junk out.

i have reached somewhat of a compromise by insisting that they eat a portion of vegetables or they get no 'kanom' [desert] after the evening meal...the only meal we share and i can have some control.

the biggest problem is that the wife can't say no when they go out to the market and always buys a pack of candy or chips. i protest and it makes me the 'bad guy'. she 'buys' their love!!

so, i've backed off just to make peace and just hope that they will learn on their own with a little guidance.

Sounds like you are caught between a rock and a hard place. I have never walked a mile in your shoes so I can only guess the frustration but I hope that my wife would, without argument, allow me to be an equal partner in the decision making process. For our own part, we have yet to face that challenge, being the parents of a five month old daughter. I wish you the best.