It is never too early to start teaching children good eating habits. It starts the day they are born. What and how you train the child shapes the habits the rest of his or her adult life. You can rear your newborn the way you feel is best for it; to eat every food group or to become a vegetarian is entirely up to you how to instill healthy balanced habits, free of junk food, excessiveness, and refined and processed sugars and foods. Healthy normal development needs appropriate amounts of protein for cell, organ, and body structure, calories to supply adequate energy, and vitamins and minerals for disease resistance and strong bones.

Training and discipline start at birth and nursing. The mother’s wholesome diet and peaceful state of mind offer her infant nourishing milk and emotional security. Breastfed infants need not be kept on schedule, but fed according to hunger as breast milk digests rapidly.

Her milk should be sufficient nutrition for her baby for the first several months. When solids are introduced they should be free of sweeteners, fat, and salt (salt is hard on the kidneys); otherwise the baby’s taste buds start demanding these flavors. When weaning children, whole, fresh, and nutritious meals should be introduced in small amounts and without using force. Teaching them to chew food thoroughly and mix it well with saliva increases the digestibility of solids. Urging them to eat too much or too fast is unhealthy and disturbing to the digestion. Allow them to choose their food as they grow older; be flexible.

An atmosphere that is harmonious and loving, and without anger, irritation, and quarrels is a stabilizing and nourishing one. A variation in the daily menu or style of cooking would prevent boredom or lack of interest in food. Delaying the meal makes them feel hungry and eager to eat. Smaller helpings are not as overwhelming as larger ones.

Harsh behavior or blackmailing should not be used; rewarding with sweets and punishing by withdrawing desserts are harmful behaviors that make children associate such foods with emotional nourishment. Snacks and desserts should be nutritious. Make sure that family and friends do not offer your child junk and fast food or sweets; such foods should not be used as reward or become part of the daily menu.

As infants reach the age of six months, their need for milk decreases. Solids such as vegetables, sprouts, and fruits should be offered cooked and mashed. Because of the risk of parasites, it is advised not to give babies raw food like lettuce, carrots, and potatoes.

Unsprouted grains and legumes should be introduced gradually and not under the age of eighteen months. Pungent food like raw onions and garlic should be used with caution, unless they are used for medicinal purposes to treat colds or worms. Fruit juices, milk, and sweet drinks encourage dental decay in bottle-fed children. Fatty (sautéing and frying), spicy, and sweet dishes are not healthy for infants either, because of their underdeveloped digestive systems.

Too much of poor quality and hormone-fed meat have adverse effects on health. Preservatives and chemicals for coloring and flavoring ice-cream and candy are usually associated with aggression, hyperactivity, or emotional stress in children. Refined sugar also makes them moody and results in addiction, caused by blood sugar imbalances in the body as well as in the brain.

Even though certain conditions require conventional treatment, simple dietary changes can sometimes prevent and heal some types of childhood behavioral problems or improve them. Emotional security and stability and parents’ attention, support, patience, and discipline also play an important role in healing behavioral chaos in such children.

Training babies and children should start by parents setting examples. Good behavioral patterns embraced by mothers and fathers are automatically reflected on their children. It is pointless to teach children good habits when they observe their parents doing things differently.

Parents are the ultimate role models to their children, especially when they lead a harmonious family life where children prosper and bloom. Lucky is the child who is raised by such parents and in such a surrounding. How we train our children today shapes their behavior tomorrow. It is never too soon to start training them.

— Mariam Alireza is a holistic science specialist. Send comments to [email protected].