Another source I found is a book called “Nutrition and Diet Therapy: Self-Instructional Approaches” by Peggy S. Stanfield. This looks promising as a source for some really good scientific information about feeding your children properly. It goes into great detail about the differences in adult nutritional needs and childhood nutritional needs. It is not a vegetarian book, is includes recommendations for meat, fish, and dairy needs for all different ages of people. This could be something I turn to when talking about the side of the argument that involves children not being forced into a vegetarian diet, as it does give specific nutritional guidelines.
I found an article written by a doctor who specializes in eating disorders. It’s a short article, but it makes some very good points that I think I will want to use in my finished pieces. She says, “Some parents in an attempt to focus on healthy eating can go overboard. Examples of this include forbidding children to eat certain types of foods or telling them that if they eat (candy or pasta or whatever their "fear" food is) they will get fat. The best way to teach good nutrition is of course modeling it by eating healthy without modeling restrictive eating. So, most nutritionists suggest that we all eat a wide variety of foods and that we not tell kids that foods are either "good" or "bad." To teach your child about nutrition, learn facts about nutrition and teach them rather than labeling food as good or bad.”
I do believe my toughest challenge in this assignment is going to be finding quality sources of evidence that people should raise their children as vegan or vegetarian just because they themselves are. Most of what I’ve found up to this point has been very opinionated and fanatical. Research is an ongoing project, though, and I really want to find more information.
Works Cited
"It Takes The Cake." Vegetarian Times June 1987: 13. Google Books. Google. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=BwkAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13&dq=should+children+be+allowed+to+make+their+own+food+choices&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uKGWUN-eJ6GO2AW08IHoAw&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=should%20children%20be%20allowed%20to%20make%20their%20own%20food%20choices&f=false>.
Ross, Carolyn C., MD. "Eating Disorders And Children." Basil & Spice 25 Mar. 2010: n. pag. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 4 Nov. 2012.
Stanfield, Peggy, and Y. H. Hui. Nutrition and Diet Therapy: Self-instructional Approaches. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2010. Print.
This is a great subject. And, living in Boulder I have encountered many moms who are strict with their kids food intake. My kids, when they were younger, had many friends come over and they would gorge themselves on cookies because cookies weren't allowed in their homes, where my kids knew how to limit themselves. And image that, they both turned out to be tall thin grownups! I've also heard about young toddlers suffering because they need some amount of fat to develop their brains and bodies, and super health conscious parents are giving them non fat milk at a very early age. In my own experience, yes, my kids were picky, but now as grownups I am amazed at the vegetables they now eat! It all seems to work out, thank goodness. I hope your blog will be a wake up call to parents of younger ones!
ReplyDeleteI think that this is definitely a big issue. I also think that you're off to a good start with the sources that you've gathered. I might search Google Scholar for something like "early childhood nutrition" or something to that effect to get some more scientific information on what children need early in life to develop properly. Most of the papers it returns are the result of actual studies, and are, well, scientific in nature, so are inherently non-biased. Finding out what children actually need to develop properly could help to develop a strong argument for what you believe in, I think.
ReplyDeleteAs American’s become more and more obese, the relation between our poor choices of food and the effect it has on our children is a great concern that needs to be recognized by society. I thought the idea you bring up that we shouldn’t just force nutritious food on our children, but to set an example by eating nutritious as well is an thought provoking idea. The idea to not simply label foods either good or bad, but to educate children on the nutritional values of the food is an excellent and I believe you should incorporate this into the paper. Though you fear that the sources you gather may be bias or opinionated, I believe your sources so far are very valuable and informative. I would suggest finding a source that gives nutritional guidelines for children so that there is a general guideline to follow. By doing so you're not just implicating the poor choices of diet, but also offer a standard for what the diet should compose of.
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