Parents can teach children about good food
Despite the efforts of the government, fitness organisations and celebrity chefs to keep Britain slim, The Express has revealed that 25% of children are overweight when they start school.
Various schemes are continuously encouraging us to exercise and eat healthily but they don’t seem to be working. The situation will be looked at more closely to shrink the NHS statistic.
According to Kumud Gandhi, food scientist and founder of the Cooking Academy, "Food habits form as early as from when children are in their high chairs; it is therefore very important to get children into the habit of eating fruit and vegetables.
“It's as equally as important for them to know what they are eating and why; it's as fundamental as learning their alphabet or learning how to speak, as this is the age where children form their own blue print of food habits."
She continues to say that "The government's campaign aimed at tackling the problem of child obesity is wholly inadequate. They are afraid of really picking up the gauntlet in fear that they would be accused of interfering too much.
“The real problem lies in the fact that the parents did not receive adequate food and nutrition education in their own youths as Home Economics and Food Technology was taken off the school curriculum in most schools by that time.
"Furthermore, when cookery was on the school curriculum in the 70's and 80's, the subject concentrated on teaching the mechanics of cooking rather than nutrition or the chemistry of food in relation to our body.
“Children need to understand what minerals are important to everyday bodily function and how to maintain your immune system as well as understanding the function of antioxidants in your body. All of which are the absolute basics of wellbeing.
“If we tackle this as at core curriculum level we can provide the skills for lifelong wellbeing and provide people with an everyday life skill. Instead we spend a significant time teaching children subjects that will never be used post the exam period."
Kumud thinks that it is important for parents to have a good knowledge of nutritional food so they can pass it on to their children. She believes that changing attitudes towards food information would help to improve on the situation.