They Are What They Eat, Coordinating A Health Diet For Your Children

Living between two homes is very common for children of divorced or separated parents, and when both parents are working together it is a situation that works very well. However, whilst you may have planned for the big things (such as who will drive your children to school and where they will be spending their vacations) there are likely to be several smaller issues that you simply haven’t thought to discuss that can ultimately prove to be problematic. One of the issues often overlooked by separated parents is the matter of food and how they will coordinate what their children are eating on a daily basis. This can mean that children of divorced or separated parents are not always getting all of the vitamins and minerals they need.

Don’t Rely on Your Children

Children are very savvy and very quick to realise when and how they can take advantage of a new situation: that means that if mom gave them French fries for lunch but they want them again, they will try to tell dad they had a healthy sandwich and fruit for lunch and ask for French fries for dinner: it’s that easy for your children to eat what they like, which is usually food with very little nutritional value! There is a more sinister side to this that simply occasionally eating more junk food than they should though: eating disorders are on the rise amongst both young women and young men across the United States. Recent statistics show that a very worrying 40-60% of girls in elementary school are beginning to vocalise and express concerns about their weight and about becoming too fat. Without strong parental encouragement to focus on health rather than weight and to eat healthily it it easy for an easily influenced child to succumb to an eating disorder of some kind. Bulimia and anorexia are terrible diseases that leave horrible marks on childhoods and families. Without both parents being on the same page and clearly monitoring exactly what their children are eating, it could also be easy for a child with an eating disorder to slip through the net, with neither parent realizing just how little their child is eating on a daily basis. Communication about your child’s dietary habits and nutritional needs is key, then. Children are children and should be treated as such; don’t rely on them to tell you what they’ve eaten or to make decisions about what they should be eating when they’re with you. Instead you should have a clear nutritional plan laid out: once they realise these boundaries are in place, your children will both respect and appreciate them.

Be Clear About What They Need

In order to feed your children properly, it’s important to know exactly what your child’s nutritional needs are and what they should eat each day in order for those needs to be met. Each child should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables, for example. But very few parents realise that a portion actually consists of an 80g serving: a smaller amount than you might expect. Separately understanding exactly what your children need and how you are expected to provide that is the best thing you can do in order to work together to formulate the right plan for your children.  Using our tools to simplify shared parenting, it’s easy to share notes about what your child is eating, and how much they are eating, when they are with you. This may seem like a minor thing to communicate with your former partner, but childhood nutrition is so important. Only by working together in this way, and by recording and sharing what they are eating, can you be completely sure that all of your children’s nutritional needs are being met and that they’re getting everything their young body’s need.

Additional Reading

[1] ”Nine rules to make joint child custody work”, Parents, http://www.parents.com/parenting/divorce/coping/making-shared-custody-work/

[2] “Ten things children of divorce wish their parents wouldn’t do”, Womans Day, http://www.womansday.com/sex-relationships/family/children-of-divorce

[3] “Finding the best anorexia treatment programs and dual diagnosis rehabs”, Bulimia, http://www.bulimia.com/topics/anorexia/