7 Tips for Transitioning Your Kids to a Healthy, Whole Food Plant-Based Diet
Thank you for visiting my page! My gift to you is my top 7 tips for transitioning your kids to a healthy, whole food plant-based diet:
1. Give them the “Why.”
Educate yourself first; a great resource is the wonderful book by Dr. Joel Furhman, “Disease Proof Your Child.” Explain to your kids that you love them more than anything, and that you want them to stay strong and healthy so they can do all the things they love to do. Tell them you learned about how some of the foods that you have been eating as a family are not very good for them, and you want to give them healthy foods that will make them feel and stay better. Depending on how old they are, you can show them documentaries like “Forks Over Knives” or “What the Health” to drive the point home. If your kids love animals, and most do, you can discuss how animals don’t need to die in order for us to eat; we can eat vegetables and fruits and beans and grains and they will taste great and make us much healthier than when we eat meat or dairy. And if your kids are older, you can discuss the impact of eating animals on our planet, too.
2. Make it easy for them with comfort foods.
Reassure your kids that they will find foods they like. There are lots of new products on the market that are not too processed, and you can make delicious “cheese” sauces out of wholesome ingredients like cashews, potatoes and carrots and use them to prepare some of their favorite comfort foods: pizza, macaroni and cheese, burritos, grilled cheese. Be sure to give them healthy treats, too! Chef AJ’s bRAWnies and Dr. Fuhrman’s Black Bean Brownies, along with frozen banana/berry “nice cream” made in a high speed blender, food processor, or Yonanas machine are all sure to be favorites, as are healthy cookies made with ingredients like oats, bananas, raisins, and spices.
3. Keep offering, even if they initially refuse to try.
Remember that kids’ tastebuds will be changing over time, especially if they are used to eating a lot of animal products and highly processed foods, laden with sugar, salt and oil. Initially, real food may not taste as appealing to them, and they may refuse a particular food several times before trying and ultimately enjoying it. But if that’s all they are offered and there are no unhealthy alternatives in the home, they will eventually eat when they are hungry. Most kids, unless they have some type of sensory issue or are on the autistic spectrum, will not starve themselves; in that case, be sure to enlist the services of a trained health professional. Allow kids lots of flexibility by having choices, but be sure that all available choices are healthy ones…clear the home of all unhealthy options, to start. Allow kids to participate in the food preparation process, to an age-appropriate degree. Ask for them to help you choose a recipe, shop for ingredients, and cook the meal; even small kids can stir or add ingredients to a recipe, and it gives them a sense of ownership and control so there is not as much resistance to trying the finished dish. Allow them to select their own seasonings and condiments to flavor their meals, and eventually, they will find a way to enjoy most offerings. You may want to invest in a small Lazy Susan to keep on the table with some spice blends and vinegars, so kids can add what they wish. Having a family pizza or taco or potato night or a salad bar is a fun way of giving kids an opportunity to create their own customized dish. Allowing kids to have some role in deciding what they wanted to eat (within healthy guidelines), some flexibility, and a hand in the preparation, are all critical in getting them to the table…not only to eat, but to enjoy the experience of eating food that is truly good for their bodies.
4. Set a great example.
Know that you (and possibly your partner) are your kids’ role models; watching you eat this way consistently will inspire them, even if they are initially resistant. Continue to express excitement over finding new recipes that are a hit, and when your kids see how much you are enjoying them, they will have much less hesitation in tasting them too. Be very positive about making this change, and don’t show them that you are worried about them starving (which they won’t) or feeling exasperated because they refuse to try something. Be firm and matter of fact, and let them know that this is how things will be from now on because you love them and it’s your job to protect them and take care of them. And when all else fails, make sure they know there is a healthy dessert you can make for or with them if they do eat their dinner…in this case, a little bribery works very effectively!
5. Help them navigate social situations gracefully.
Social situations can be a bit of a challenge at first, but gradually, you can make your way to a very comfortable place. Explain to kids that most people (including most of their friends) are eating the Standard American Diet (SAD), and that the way you are all eating now may seem a bit “extreme” to them. I always enjoyed having my kids’ friends over for play dates and feeding them green smoothies, black bean brownies, healthy nachos, hummus burritos, and frozen banana berry “ice cream”….and then telling their Moms and/or Dads when they came to pick them up that their son/daughter ate black beans, kale, chickpeas, etc. I would also have also on occasion saved some for the parents to try. When the kids were invited to a friend’s house to play, I called the parents in advance and explained the way that we eat and told them I would send a snack to share. No one ever acted offended and we often received compliments on the treats. And if they went to a party, I explained to the host/hostess in advance and if they didn’t offer to make accommodations (which they almost always did), I fed the kids ahead of time. And I always encouraged the kids to explain that they chose to eat this way (because they eventually did)…not that they “couldn’t have” certain things. They enjoyed sharing their kale chips with friends in the cafeteria…when other kids saw them, they asked what they are…sadly, many of them have never even heard of kale, let alone tasted it. But they almost always liked them. And even today, when we go to restaurants with others, we call ahead or look up the menu online to find suitable options, and we almost always come prepared with a small cooler of snacks in the car and a small bag of condiments to take into the restaurant to flavor our veggie choices.
6. Expose them to like-minded people.
A very important aspect of choosing a lifestyle that is different from the norm is to have social support. Try to bring the kids to some of the vegan festivals, vegan meetups, potlucks, parties, etc. that you can find, and even conferences, like Vegetarian Summerfest in Johnstown PA. If you can’t find any in your area, consider starting your own group on Meetup.com. I started a group called the Columbia MD Forks Over Knives Meetup Group in 2011, and we grew from 14 members then to over 1,870 now! My kids came to all of the potlucks and met many other kids and families. Kids will learn that there are many other people, including other kids, who make the decision to eat similar to the way that you are eating now. It’s a good idea to also expose them to events that focus on other issues related to our food choices, such as the impact on the environment and the animals. That way, in case there is peer pressure down the road, they will have a number of reasons for wanting to stay on a healthy path. My kids have really enjoyed meeting other vegan kids and have learned along the way that some of their teachers and a few classmates were vegetarian or vegan too)….it’s important to them to know that they are not alone.
7. Don’t give in; be confident in knowing you are doing the right thing for your kids.
There may come a time when you feel unsure that you are doing the right thing….all of the other kids are binging on Halloween candy or holiday cookies and you have sent your son or daughter into the classroom or party with special healthy treats. If you have given your kids a good explanation of why it’s so important to eat healthy food, they will get over any discomfort quickly. Don’t worry about your child feeling traumatized because he or she isn’t doing what all the other kids are doing…instead, envision them years down the road, when they attend a party in high school and all the other kids are smoking or using drugs. Do you want them to be comfortable not going along then? As Dr. Doug Lisle once said, just because it’s popular, that doesn’t make it right, and just because it’s right, that doesn’t make it popular. Kids are very adaptable and they need to know that you are confident in what you’re doing and that you’re doing it to protect them because you love them. You may feel from time to time as though you’re burned out and it would just be easier to let them eat greasy cheese pizza with their friends instead of preparing a special dish. But remember that they are growing at a rapid rate, and their genetic material is most susceptible to the changes that can lead to cancer in later life during this time. Doesn’t it make sense to take the best care you can of them, especially now, while you have more control? Later, when peer pressure is involved, they may make their own choices and you may not be happy with them. But at least you will be able to feel secure in that when it mattered most, they were not exposed to the foods that can be so injurious to health. The way I look at it, I wouldn’t give my kids crack cocaine, so why would I feed them highly addictive foods that are so bad for them? Also remember that your kids may wish they could have some of the treats they’ve had in the past, like candy, ice cream, etc.…..our brains are hard-wired to desire sugar, fat and salt, after all. But had your kids never been exposed to junk food in the first place, they would be satisfying those desires with real, whole foods, like fruits, nuts and seeds, and vegetables that are higher in sodium like celery. I will be the first to admit that in the early stages of transitioning, there were days that I felt a little burned out, like I wished I could just pull up at a drive thru and pick up dinner, instead of having to cook. But I thought about how much I loved my kids and how I would do anything to protect them, and then a little time in the kitchen never seemed so bad. I always looked at it all as a labor of love.
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