This is absolutely one of my favourite quotes because it's just so true! What our children eat has a huge impact on their health and well-being including growth, development, sleep, behaviour and mood. Eating calories isn't enough, it's about meeting the nutritional requirements of growing children. They need a multitude of nutrients like iron, iodine, choline, essential fatty acids and vitamins to name a few.
So I find it very disturbing that, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, less than 1% of children consume the recommended intake of vegetables and legumes. And <5% meet their iron requirements.
So what can we do about this? Ideally we start early and help 'set' their taste buds and eating habits, but if we already have a fussy eater it's about considering any associated problems they may have as well as resetting their dietary habits.
