The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Eating for Kids - M.s.j., Dana Villamagna [36]
—Kelly, Virginia
Even if you watch how much sugar and candy your child eats at home, she may be getting lots more than you would expect at school, scouting, after-school activities, even after sports practices. We’ve heard of teachers who toss marshmallows at students who answer math questions correctly!
It seems like kids are being “rewarded” with sugar everywhere these days. Help your kids learn self-control in these situations by simply telling them they can say, “No, thanks,” or they can take a bite and throw the rest away. Educate them about the types of candy that aren’t vegan, such as milk chocolate, caramels, marshmallows, and most baked goods.
If it’s a more mild case of sugar love, consider compromise. For example, let her eat half of her slice of vegan cheesecake halfway through dinner (at least you know she’s eating half of her healthful dinner!) and the other half afterward if she’s still hungry (this helps her gauge her own hunger and gives less of a sugar rush by eating it in stages). Or provide dessert with lunch or dinner, but not both. Pair sugary snacks like raisins with a protein-rich food like peanut butter on celery to soften the sugar hit.
That’s So Vegan
To learn more about carb and sugar cravings, as well as other food cravings, read the excellent book Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings—and 7 Steps to End Them Naturally by Dr. Neal Barnard.
The sugar situation is a good opportunity to educate your child on the effects food can have on the brain and body. Even to a preschooler, you can say something as simple as, “If you eat this brownie at breakfast time, your body will feel hyper at first, then yucky, then tired. Too much sugar makes your brain get all garbled up, and it will be easier for you to get in trouble at school today. Sweets aren’t breakfast food.”
The Meal Skipper
Some kids go through phases when they really don’t like to eat one particular meal of the day, typically breakfast or dinner. This eating glitch usually simply phases out after a while. But if it’s ongoing for weeks at a time, you may want to replace the calories and nutrients lost from that meal in other ways.
Solutions: Keep your child at the table during family meals, even if she doesn’t want to eat. The social aspect of family meals is still important, and many times your child will see something you’re all eating that she likes and will nibble even if she was initially resistant to the full meal. Vegan energy bars are an excellent solution, especially at breakfast time. Kids who won’t eat dinner will often want a snack before bed. Or they may wake up the next day and eat what seems like two or three breakfasts.
Be sure the snacks and breakfast foods you have at home are readily available and are the healthiest possible. Don’t balk if your 10-year-old daughter eats two bowls of cereal, three veggie sausage links, and two bananas for breakfast if she didn’t eat dinner the night before!
Meal Monotony
If your child gets stuck on eating cereal for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and veggie burgers for dinner for weeks, it’s time to broaden her horizons. Sure, a multivitamin or fortified vegan food may make up for nutrients neglected by restricted food choices. But eating only limited foods over a long period of time can increase the possibility of nutritional deficiencies and may be a sign that she’s developing disordered eating.
Solutions: Offer to prioritize her favorite meals she hasn’t eaten for a while onto your weekly family dinner menu. Take her grocery shopping, and have her pick out a few new foods. Pack her school lunch with, yes, her standard PB&J, but also add a few surprises you know she’s enjoyed in the past.
Don’t become too rigid and expect your child