Focus on Food

To encourage healthier eating habits in our kids, Maria and I have been adopting a style of eating we tell Marie and Michael is called "Resturant Eating". In our case, this means we do not eat any of our main course initially, but instead spend a lesiurely amount of time consuming our salad. My wife and I both have substanial sized salads that take probably 25 minutes to eat. Marie (she is four) gets a miniature version of our salad, some fruit, and needs to drink at least 50% of her beverage. Michael (being only 22 months) simply gets fruit puree (baby food) and his beverage.

At first this new change in dinner was met with curiosity. Marie did not wish to try most of the vegetables in her salad, but would instead lick the dressing off of pieces of carrot and cucumber. In the last three weeks, however, we have noticed a bit of a change. Marie still dislikes lettuce in her salad, but she is usually eager to eat her carrots, and often times her fresh brocolli. Additionally, she has been very good about eating her fruit and is getting far stronger with drinking her beverage.

Michael is doing well too. He usually eats one or two jars of the fruit slurry that is his baby food.

The wonderful bonus effects of this salad first eating method are... 1) Marie is partially satiated by the slow eating of her "salad" and drinking of her beverage. This leads her to eat more slowly and carefully during the more substantial part of the meal that follows. This also has improved her manners substantially at the dinner table. 2) For Michael, the change is also great. He too becomes partially satiated by the early fruit dishes, and is more content and calm during the main course. He has even become more willing to try new foods... he likes whole peas, green beans, and has been interested in the textures of many other foods as well. Prior to this point, the only solid foods he was willing to eat were mashed potaoes, cheese, and bread. 3) Maria and I have a quieter, more contented and fun family dinner, and 4) Maria and I both have been striving to lose weight, and the salad first option helps *us* to also become satiated with smaller portions of the main course.

We are both pleased.

Konrad