Here’s a quiz for your kids. Let them answer it independently. What’s your child’s food style?
Are you a planner, grabber or skipper?
1. When you wake up in the morning, you:
a) Already know what you’re having for breakfast. You even hide your favourite cereal in a place your pesky little brother won’t find it.
b) Sleep until the last minute, grab a sugar-coated breakfast bar, and run for the bus.
c) Enjoy sleeping in and skip eating altogether. Breakfast is so overrated.
2. Your lunch at school is usually:
a) Packed lunch and I eat it all
b) Packed lunch and I only eat what looks good
c) Packed lunch and I skip most of it. I’d rather get outside and play.
3. Before soccer practice, you:
a) Eat a whole grain bagel and banana
b) See that your Dad left a bag of chips sitting on the counter so you grab it and eat it on the way to practice.
c) Don’t have time to eat anything. Gotta run!
4. When you get home from school, you:
a) Usually make yourself a sandwich and drink a glass of milk
b) Grab the first thing you see, whether it’s a bunch of grapes or a bunch of cookies
c) Are starving! You haven’t eaten all day so you start to eat everything in sight. Who knew raw pasta noodles could taste so good?
5. You are planning a sleepover with friends, you:
a) Ask your Mom to take you to the store so you can serve “make your own nachos” at your party.
b) Wait until your parents are asleep so you can raid the kitchen.
c) Figure your friends have already eaten before the party, so why bother serving food?
A. PLANNER
If you answered mostly “A,” you are a planner. You will have an easier time fitting in all the food groups in a day’s time. Since you are already thinking ahead to what you will eat the next meal or snack (or next day), you just have to make sure your plans cover all the food groups.
B. GRABBER
If you answered mostly “B,” you are a grabber. You may need to talk with your parents about having healthy “grab it” foods around. If your house is stocked with snacks such as fruit, cut-up veggies, yogurt, whole grain crackers, tortillas, and bagels, it will be easier to grab for nutritious food. Also, keep healthy grab-it foods in your backpack or sports bag for those times when you are in a hurry.
C. SKIPPER
If you answered mostly “C,” you are a skipper. Skippers have the hardest time fitting in all the food groups. That’s because when you miss a meal, you are missing out on the chance to eat healthy foods. You may also get so hungry, that you overeat on “extra” foods. Set a goal to fit in all of your meals and snacks.
Have a happy, healthy day!
