Can I ask a question? Do the kids who grow up eating “kid recipes” end up healthy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please elaborate on what on earth “white/Americans” means. Can’t wait to hear who you are trying to insult/avoid insulting.

It’s plainly obvious.

And to OP, the short answer is no. We have a huge obesity problem with Americans.

It’s becoming a huge problem in Asia too.

[Anonymous]

Cocy Indians eat garbage too OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started eating vegetables at age 20. There is hope! I now eat them everyday.

-White American

I used to only eat salads because I hated vegetables, but I realized as an adult it’s because my parents never roasted vegetables. We had steamed carrots, steamed Brussels sprouts, boiled corn. Once I discovered properly seasoned, roasted asparagus and Brussels sprouts, etc, I became obsessed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are Asian, cook mostly at home, lots of vegetables and lean meats. Desserts are mostly fruit with weekly treats.*

Whenever I look up “kid-friendly” recipes for gatherings I am hosting (neighborhood, school families, etc.) I see a lot of things like:
- Mac n cheese
- Crockpot meatballs with BBQ sauce and grape jelly
- Creamy cheddar bacon dip
- Sausage pizza puffs
- Fried ravioli

I know it’s a party but… I feel like people should not eat this way, like ever? Unless they are also running marathons, I don’t think our bodies can go through this many calories and sugar and cheese? Or is there a special gene that white/American people have that enables them to absorb all these calories and sugar and cheese without negative effect?

* And yes, I am fully aware my kids may rebel and stuff their face once they start buying their own groceries. But, I did not and am hoping inculcating good food habits does not backfire for my kids.

I'm going to guess you're in Minnesota, home of the tater tot casserole.

Excuse me, but the proper term is “tater tot hotdish.”

- Minnesotan

[Anonymous]

These are kid friendly recipes for special gathering OP, not nightly meals.

We have the meatballs in grape jelly dish every Christmas, and that's the only day per year we eat it.

[Anonymous]

Aside from Mac and cheese, I do not think if these as typical American kid foods. I have never eaten them now have my kids. Now if you were to add chicken nuggets and pizza...there you have it.

[Anonymous]

These are more like midwestern recipes from the 1970s. Not "kid friendly" recipes relevant today. My kids would eat maybe 1 of those things.

[Anonymous]

“Kid friendly” food is code for junk. But bad parents want to feel better about themselves, so here we are.

[Anonymous]

As someone who is in an Asian and white family, I am super tired of Asian judgement about food. Just as my Asian family would never serve everything we have at a banquet or big family meal on a regular weeknight, a white family would never serve everything you’re listing at one meal. And it isn’t fair to demean basics or simpler parts of other people’s cuisine as “kid food”- just because children only want to eat very simple macaroni and cheese doesn’t mean that’s somehow inferior to the plain white rice that my child wants to eat.

Just say what you really want to say in these posts: that you feel superior to other people because of…your food? Your race? Something else? I don’t know but the undertone of your post reads as nasty and judgey, and I say that as an Asian mom.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is true that you hate white people and somehow accidentally stumbled on a Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1970s to back up your claims. That is what you were asking, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is in an Asian and white family, I am super tired of Asian judgement about food. Just as my Asian family would never serve everything we have at a banquet or big family meal on a regular weeknight, a white family would never serve everything you’re listing at one meal. And it isn’t fair to demean basics or simpler parts of other people’s cuisine as “kid food”- just because children only want to eat very simple macaroni and cheese doesn’t mean that’s somehow inferior to the plain white rice that my child wants to eat.

Just say what you really want to say in these posts: that you feel superior to other people because of…your food? Your race? Something else? I don’t know but the undertone of your post reads as nasty and judgey, and I say that as an Asian mom.

+1

It's very disordered too. This attitude that certain foods are fundamentally bad and reflect some kind of moral failing is just a recipe for an eating disorder.

And I say that as a parent if a kid who is ultra-picky but in a way OP would mostly approve of-- she never eats "kid foods" like macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets (does not eat meat at all), and she wouldn't eat the party foods OP lists. She mostly eats rice, beans or lentils, Greek yogurt, and fruit (not a veggie fan though I can sneak them into bean and lentil dishes). We've worked with a dietician because her narrow palate is caused by being very sensitive to textures and smells, and one thing she emphasizes a lot is not to label foods as good or bad, and to encourage her to learn to tolerate other people's food even if she personally finds it unappealing (not to eat it, but to be able to be near people eating food that smells different from what she likes and not to criticize or comment). DD isn't diagnosed with an eating disorder (she technically eats enough foods to not qualify for ARFID though it's basically being treated the same way, but we've been told that assigning moral judgment to food is a huge red flag and perhaps the most important thing to address in order to prevent even more disordered eating in the future.

But OP is imposing that attitude on her kids from the start. If any of them deal with disordered eating at all in the future, this is going to be a huge problem. It's a very counterproductive attitude.

[Anonymous]

I’m a PP on this thread and am stuck on Op “looking up kid friendly food”. I’ve never encountered bacon cheese dip on a list of kid friendly foods. I think you’re confusing an internet algorithm with how other cultures feed their children.

By the way, at the holiday potluck I attended for my child’s sports team in early December, the kids ate Swedish meatballs, spam musubi, fried rice, chow fun, jalapeño cornbread, bean curd skin rolls, Mac and cheese, chicken wings, a ton of cookies, and a platter of cut up vegetables.

The kids were from many ethnic backgrounds, speak a ton of different languages at home, and what they all had in common was that they ate everything. Except for the vegetables, everything was pretty unhealthy, and that’s ok, because none of us parents would offer all of this to them at one meal.

I don’t think offering kids tempting dishes at one meal is going to turn them into 600-lb high school dropouts who eat only hotdogs, but I’ll check in in 15 years and let you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why single out “white/American” people?
If you come to a party any of my Indian clan’s
homes you’ll see a buffet of samosas, parathas, deep-fried poori, creamy dals and meat dishes, buttery biryanis and all manner of sweets. We don’t have special genes. These are occasional treats and we take small portions.

Yes! I am Indian-American and was going to say the same. Way unhealthier than that stuff OP listed.

And yes our community is "healthy" as adults - that's mostly just a socioeconomic thing.

Indian-American here, but I have to laugh at the bolded - how many uncles and aunties do you know with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc.? My parents are wealthy and they both exercise daily, but Indians are genetically predisposed to this stuff, even the ones who exercise daily and have a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are very fortunate that your kids eat only the healthy food that you serve them. I had this opinion, too, that children should only healthy food you serve them. Until I had children with special needs. My first had severe food allergies starting from 6 months old and a very restricted diet. Each new food we introduced had to be trialed - one a week. Every single fruit, vegetable, meat, and grain. Day one would be one bite. Day 2 would be 2 bites. At any point there could be an allergic reaction, necessitating a trip to the hospital. It was absolutely terrifying and mealtimes were not enjoyable but a highly stressful event that could end with a medical emergency. We ended up feeding that child whatever safe foods we could, and could not eat out, travel, dine with others, etc. because of the risks of an allergic reaction. The goal for them became weight gain with a restricted diet due to food allergies so we focused on that.

My second child was introduced to fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean meats as a baby but had no interest in food. There were issues upon solids introduction with chewing, gagging, and swallowing. We saw specialists and talked to our pediatrician. Once we got that kid eating more solids, only a few foods would be accepted by them and they were the highly processed, tan foods that kids with sensory food issues prefer. They had little to no interest in eating and only certain, specific, processed foods would be consumed. We did feeding therapy, and had evaluations with many different specialty doctors. Basically I was told it was a sensory issue, that my child may have high functioning autism, and I should do whatever I can to make mealtimes pleasant and feed whatever they will eat.

So sure, you may judge me if you see me feeding my kids processed foods. But you have no idea what I have dealt with or how I would trade places with you in a heartbeat. Have you ever cried because your child hasn’t gained weight for 5 months and won’t eat ice cream or any other calorically dense foods you offer? Have you ever dealt with a child who will only eat 20 foods or fewer and will refuse entire groups of food? No matter what you try - even when you read books about food, they help you shop and cook, you let them play with food and they have done feeding therapy and can name every single healthy food the rest of the family eats that they won’t eat them self.

So basically - before you judge, have a little compassion and realize that many of us who have kids who eat poorly compared to your family could be dealing with a lot of challenges that you never even dreamed about.

+1 I can relate to all of this. Wish I could hear how you overcame the sensory issues or did you just live with it? Am dealing with this for years with DC.

[Anonymous]

Yes kids who eat nuggets, McDonald’s, Mac and cheese, etc grow up eating healthy.