Getting Children to Eat Healthily

It's the start of a new term at the school and we have been cooking up a storm.

Cooking for children is a different affair from cooking for adults. Firstly, you have to ensure there's good nutritional content. Secondly, you have to make it interesting. Thirdly, you have to be mindful of the seasoning.

Living in KL, it seems like many people are used to heavy flavouring. We baked banana bread the other day with (almost no) little sugar and less butter. A parent was around and we offered her a slice and her immediate response was, 'where's the sugar?' While it may take awhile for adults to get used to enjoy food in its original flavours, children (especially the younger ones) are like blank canvas. Given the right exposure, children can enjoy healthy nutritious food.

We had a 3 yr old child who is a very fussy eater and prefers to drink soup and milk. That is if he is not eating lots of snacks. He is my biggest challenge - our in-house chef and I are always trying out new recipes and tricks to entice him to eat. After three weeks with us, we have weaned him off junk food (in school), introduced him to several new food and he had put on one kilogram since he joined us. I don't know who is happier - his mom or me. :)

Here's some tips we find work very well in feeding our children.

1. Nutrition dense meals

A child's stomach is small (assuming no overfeeding and wrongly conditioning a child to over-eat), so a child's serving is way smaller than an adult's serving. We try to make every bite goes a long way.

We use antibiotics free chicken, kampong eggs and if available, free range or organic produce. The cells of a child are growing rapidly, and the harmful effects of chemicals in our food can have a bigger impact on them.

Some popular (and successful) meals with our kids are:

- soup with mixed lentils, broad bean, chickpeas, ABF chicken and brown rice

- ABF chicken pomodoro with Japanese sweet potato served with pasta, purple cabbage and peas

- Avocado and mango smoothie made with Greek yoghurt (less sugar, twice the protein and thrice probiotic cultures to normal yoghurt), whole fat milk and dash of golden flaxseed

2. Soupy / wetter meals

Perhaps it is easier for the child to swallow a soupy meal or chew softer food. We find that our children enjoy their wetter meals to dryer ones. Be mindful that they might not have a full set of teeth yet, or children being children might be too impatient to chew properly. So prepare the food from a child's perspective.

Adding a little more water to the rice, or cooking the pasta longer than the ideal al dente make the food a little more palatable for the children.

3. Variety - mix it up!

The breakfast, snacks and meals are different each day so even the small eaters get a good range of nutrition throughout the day (and week). The attention span of a child is short, make sure you keep them interested by introducing variety.

For instance, breakfast could be weetabix and snack is mixed berries smoothie one day. The next day, it would be oat porridge with homemade date sauce and wholemeal cheese and tomato sandwich.

4. Make it fun

We always start off with a 'choo choo train' trip to wash the hands, and a 'choo choo train' trip to the dining area. The teachers and children will eat together which is great because i) the children get to observe the teachers, ii) kids eating well have a positive externality on the fussier ones.

We encourage the children to feed themselves and assist only if necessary. If they drop food, that's fine. They are creating memories, acquiring life skills, not creating a mess. We can always clean up later. Uninterrupted eating (without someone always cleaning up after them, chiding them if they drop something, wiping their mouths constantly) allow the children to enjoy their meals.

5. Make it child friendly

Make sure all cutlery and crockery are child size, BPA free, fun looking and user friendly from a child's perspective. I found this lovely saucer with the right depth and a knobby handle. So a child can hold the knob to secure the bowl or for manoeuvring if needed.

6. Timing is everything

Physical health and good nutrition are two important features of the school. We feed the children every three hours or so that they don't go too long without food, maintain an optimised sugar level and it makes a big difference to enhancing their mood.

When the child starves for too long, he might be too hungry to eat properly. So we pre-empt with regular good portion of meals and snacks throughout the day.

With fussy eaters who prefer their milk, we offer solids first. A teacher will guide the child in feeding, encourage his progress and in some cases, we help with the feeding. The preference is for the child to gain independence and competence in self-feeding, but it's also important to get good nutrition into the child.

7. Keeping trying, but do not force feed

For fussy eaters who reject food, we keep trying and encouraging. Don't give up. Every mouthful is a small victory. If the child shows unwillingness to eat and spits out the food, we would not force food. Instead, we would monitor the child, offer alternative (say milk) or bring forward the next meal when the child is ready again.

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Healthy eating can reap lifelong benefits. A good diet makes a big long run difference to a child's physical and mental development and boosts his immune system. In the short run, feeding our child wholesome meals increases his learning ability and lifts his general mood.

Designing meals and cooking for children can get challenging, but the results of good diet can be immediate and are very rewarding.

Some good resources I use often are:

Patrick Holford http://www.patrickholford.com/

Holistic Kid http://www.holistickid.com/

Wholesome Baby Food http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

Dr Sears http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family-nutrition

Hope you get some recipe inspiration and have fun cooking for your family this weekend. If you have any tips or great recipe, do share with me too.

Giving our children a good Head start

I love my food and have been head over heels in love with food since I was a little girl. Food not only fuels my body, it serves as a daily inspiration for me. I live to eat and am blessed with a hearty appetite.

When I was pregnant, I pray that DD will love food as much as DH and I do. I don’t have any particular craving and exposed her to a variety of food. After DD arrived, I breastfeed her and am still breastfeeding her at 15 months. According to the parenting guides, breastfed kids are unlikely to be picky eaters. The theory is that the child is exposed to a smorgasbord of tastes through the breast milk from a young age, as opposed to the homogeneous taste of formula milk.

Well, as I have discovered through my parenthood journey – take what I read from parenting books with a pinch of salt.

Each child is unique. As a child leaves infancy behind and moves in toddlerhood, he/she starts forming his/her opinion and preference in everything, including the food.

DD is no exception. She was doing great, eating well until she neared one year old. There are days when it is just harder to feed her. Through trials and error, here’s some tricks that work for us:

• Offer variety. Mix it up. Don’t feed the same thing day in day out.
• Make a nutrition packed soup/stew. It’s easier to sneak in a few mouthfuls of power food every now and then. For instance, I boil spinach, broccoli, lentils, carrots etc, blend it up and add a protein such as minced beef or fish.
• Offer distraction. I have tried video, feeding her while she is playing with toys and feeding her while taking a walk.
• Let DD feeds herself. The mess can always be cleaned up later.
• Offer competition. Sometimes I pretend to feed her doll. Or when we are out with friends’ kids, we find that she eats as heartily as the next kid.
• Offer a change of location. Don’t always feed at the high chair. She loves it at Fitfor2 at Bangsar Village or Kidzsport and never fails to finish her meal there.

Then there are days when all above fails. I will resort to feeding DD her favourite food – cheese and tomato. I would tell myself that some food is better than no food and try to focus on the big picture, i.e. her diet throughout the week.

In recent years, the diagnosis for hyperactivity (ADHD) and dyslexia in children has been increasing. Leading nutritionist, Patrick Holford, found in his book ‘Smart Food for Smart Kids’ that in many of these cases, the learning disabilities can be eliminated simply through an improvement in diet. Holford explains the positive link between eating nutritious food and a child’s brain power.

I strongly believe in the importance of wholesome food for a growing child. This is why I go out of my way to ensure our school feeds nutrition-packed food. Our nutritionist works on IQ-boosting food to improve the children’s attention and learning ability.

Parents are not charged a leg and limb to select the meal option. Instead our nutritionist team source actively for the right suppliers and  works within budget. The children comes first at our school, before any talks of profit and margins.

Unfortunately in Malaysia, our preschools and daycares do not know or care enough about this. Many of the schools continue to serve sugary drinks, pandan cakes, doughnuts, nasi lemaks etc. 

When I question these schools, the principals would tell me that 'it's part of their effort to ensure the child gets accustomed to a Malaysian diet.' Erm, I don't think so.

We are what we eat. The stuff we put in our mouth affects our mood, our health and learning ability. Depriving your body of vital nutrients can be detrimental.

A child’s brain goes through exponential growth in the first 6 years and is 97% of adult size by age 6. Hence we should all give our children best head start in life with a wholesome diet.

How to select a preschool/nursery/daycare

Over the course of last few weeks, I have got two friends asking me how to select a preschool for their children.

One’s not based in KL (or I would have asked you to send your child to my school dear) and the other friend’s child is under one year old. So I thought I will write an entry for all parents who are looking for a preschool/kindergarten/nursery/daycare.

I would like to pat you on the back for deciding to send your child to any form of formal learning setting.

A child is born with a tremendous ability to learn. Do you know that a child’s brain is 97% developed by the time he/she is 6 years old? Their brains grow and create new synapses through new learning experiences. Hence, the more you stimulate your child during the early years, the greater the learning potential your child might realize.

Firstly, consider the amount of exposure for your child and weigh it against your current arrangement. Perhaps you would your child to be placed in a learning environment all day while you work – Full Day. Or you have suitable care arrangement at home and only want a half day school – Half Day.

Once you have decided on the frequency of classes, here’s some other factors to consider in selecting a school:

1.Curriculum

This is the approach the school bases its curriculum on. It not only serves as a guide on how they run the school but also sets the syllabus for teaching content.

The most commonly heard of school of thought is Montessori, but many parents do not realize what Montessori philosophy entails. Maria Montessori recognizes that each child has great learning potential but learns at his/her own pace.

A newer school of thought is the WholeBrain learning system which is a science/logic based approach. WholeBrain learning believes that all babies are born geniuses and we just need to unlock their potential with appropriate stimulation of both left and right brains.

My ideal school is one which offers good curriculum that stimulates the right and left brains, a conducive environment for languages (English, Mandarin and Malay) and promotes social interaction.

2.Values System

No doubt as parents, you are most qualified to instill the right values in your child. But as your child spends a considerable amount of time in school, it’s important to choose one who shares similar core values as you.

For instance, I once interviewed a daycare whose principal thought that infants are ‘too young to know anything. When they grow older, then we teach them stuff.’ Uh huh no.

At our school, we teach our children the value of money, manners,  social graciousness and how to be a helpful contributing person.

3.Diet

You are what you eat. A good diet is especially important for very young children. As a child’s body undergoes tremendous amount of growth in the early years, what he/she eats has a strong impact on his/her physical growth.

Unfortunately, in KL, many schools feed our children processed food loaded with sugar or a porridge based diet high on simple carb but low on nutrition.

Child nutrition expert Patrick Holford said that many children are misdiagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. A simple change in diet to include brain food affects the development of the brain and the child’s learning ability.

A good diet should consist plenty of good fat, complex carb, protein, calcium, fruits and vegetable. At our school, we have an in-house nutritionist who dedicates a huge amount of time and research into designing our menu. We also supplement our children with multi-vitamins and DHA (subject to parental sign-up).

4.Environment

Is there ample space for the child to roam? We want our kids to grow up in a ‘free range’ environment, not cooped up in a small hole all day.

Scrutinize the level of hygiene. If the school does not practice good hygiene, your child is more likely to fall sick.

Safety is something that Malaysians cannot take for granted. At our school, our security is enhanced with secure tag entry and regular patrolling provided by the building.

5.Convenience

This is a factor that tends to be overlooked. You don’t want to have to park, climb a flight of stairs yanking a stroller and struggle every morning just to get your child to work.

Instead, look for a school near your home with convenient drop-off points. If they are indoor, make sure they have escalators and lifts for accessibility. You will thank yourself when school starts.

6.Rules

The school should have a rule books and adhere strictly to it, such as sick child policy and designated eating area etc. Children thrive in a structured environment.

7.Honesty and Openness of the School

Have you ever encountered schools who will only meet you if you place an appointment? Or schools who are hesitant about parents observing sessions?

Schools which operate in a secretive manner may have something to hide.

Go with your intuition (yes, your innate mommy’s and daddy’s instinct) on the sincerity of the staff. Are they child-centric and genuinely care about your children? Is your child comfortable and happy?


I always recommend dropping in spontaneously when scouting out a school. If the principal or teacher is unable to give you the full attention then, they can arrange a follow-up full visit.

8.Involvement of parents

Personally I like to know what and how my child is doing in school. Parents would know how hard it is to find out from the kids themselves.


We hold regular meet-the-parents session to update them about their child, give an educational talk on a specific topic (right brain activity, diet) or engage their feedback in general. We are your partners in educating your children and it’s a two way process.

9.Licensing

There are an appalling number of preschools, daycares and nurseries in Malaysia without license. It’s not expensive nor complicated to obtain one. If the school scrimps on a small fee to avoid registration, consider what else they are scrimping on in educating and caring for your child.

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Remember, each child is different and it’s important to find a school which fits your child’s personality and your family. Doing the homework in finding the right school for your child does reap its benefits. For one, your little one will look forward to going to school everyday and meet his/her teachers and friends.

At the end of the day, all we want is our child to be happy, healthy and balanced.