Some live to eat, and some eat to live! However, the fact remains that food is the most critical aspect of our lifestyles. Little do we realize that what we give our children to eat since their early childhood days, the effects of that are seen in adulthood. Several lifestyle diseases that we see today, such as hypertension, diabetes etc, germinate from the food that we eat or give our children from early childhood.
In a typical Indian family, it may be seen that by feeding the children, regardless of whether they are hungry or not and the amount of food they should consume, children are fed large amounts of food. In fact, it is also a misconception in Indian families that a fat and obese child is a healthy child, which is rather unfortunate. Therefore, childhood obesity is something that one must be wary of because that can lead to a lot of lifestyle diseases later in life. One must be conscious and start dietary reforms in one’s home to inculcate the habit of eating right and eating healthy food.
At a personal level, I love to cook and ensure that nutritious food can also be made tasty, so I come up with some new recipes, thanks to YouTube, which has millions of healthy and delicious recipes that one can try. Instead of feeding children pastries, doughnuts, croissants and chocolates, we can give them our healthy Indian food such as upma with vegetables, chila, dosa, vegetable paratha, etc among many other such recipes. In fact, some of the Indian recipes can be twisted into something that kids enjoy! I make for my grandkids ‘veg/ paneer frankie’, which is nothing but vegetables and paneer rolled in a chapati which looks like a frankie! I also make ‘Pohe’ a typical Maharashtrian recipe with lots of vegetables and peanuts added to it! Unfortunately, our kids are exposed to more western dishes than Indian and it should be our responsibility as parents and grandparents to inculcate the habit of eating what we all ate when we grew up!
One could also have a small kitchen garden on the terrace or from where one can get fresh vegetables. I have done this in a bit of space outside my house, and I wonder how nature cooperates to give vegetables in abundance, and that too from such a small space!
As we at Symbiosis realised that some parents feed their children only to help them gain weight, we started the mid-day programme at the school. This is managed by nutritionists who decide the menu and quantity of food to be given, depending on the child’s age and constitution.
As a health-promoting university, Symbiosis takes pride in offering healthy food options in our dining halls and mess. The menu, decided by a student-led mess committee, is guided by the Symbiosis Centre for Health Care and the Dept. of Dietetics and Nutrition. Regular lectures on diet and nutrition, and sharing of nutritious recipes by the Symbiosis school of culinary arts, further motivate our community to eat right. Our collective efforts have been recognized with the ‘Eat Right’ certification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Govt. of India, for the second consecutive year.
One must realise that exercise is essential, but EATING RIGHT is crucial because you are finally what you eat!