'The struggle is lifelong': Kajol on eating healthy and inculcating that habit in her children

Kajol is the kind of mother who’s deeply and keenly aware of what her children eat and sets down the law when it comes to eating.

No fixed rules

At a recent event for children in Delhi, she underscored the need to establish certain restrictions when it comes to eating. As a mother of two — daughter Nysa (13) and son Yug (6), she believes a certain degree of discipline is required. She said,  “My husband Ajay and I don’t have any hard-and-fast rules for our children. Through the week, we eat regular food and then, over the weekend, we order whatever we want and have our cheat days.”

How Yug, Nysa eat...

She went on to share her children’s different eating habits despite having a similar upbringing. She said, “For Yug, the food has to smell good and taste good whereas for Nysa, it’s about the presentation; the food has to look good. With Yug, it has to be expensive and it has to be without vegetables. I manage to feed him veggies by hiding them,” laughed Kajol.

Admitting that children pick up their eating habits from their parents, she said that she and Ajay  have always been good examples, in that respect. She does not consume any aerated drinks. She emphasises that when it comes to eating, parents need to teach their children what is good and what is bad.

A constant battle

In fact, she shared, her children are pretty honest with her. When they don’t finish their tiffin boxes — which have home cooked food — they tell her. Making children eat the right way is a constant battle and Kajol said that “I don’t think there is any mother who doesn’t run behind their kids about food and stuff like that. But yes, not to that extent now.”

As far as the struggle to eating healthy goes, she laughed and concluded, “The struggle is lifelong. I’m still struggling to not eat a pizza today.”