Bangalore kids lead the way in eating healthy

“It’s a fruit or nutritional biscuits with a glass of milk,” says Padmini Nagaraja, researcher and education consultant, about her five-and-a-half year-old son's snacking habit.
Babita, a mother of two girls aged 6 and 11, says: “Fried foods are a complete no-no, as we hardly have time to prepare such foods.” Her kids snack on sandwich and occasionally get away with junk like chips.

But on the whole they manage to eat healthy as, “The school has started this programme that emphasises on wellness and health, so eating healthy is part of the system,” she says. Yogurts and brown or multi-grain bread find a place on their menu.

A survey conducted by AC Nielsen points out that, Bangalore children are the healthiest pre-dinner (between 5pm and 8pm) munchers, where as Mumbai kids are the most unhealthy —topping the junk food eating charts. 

Eating habits of children, in the age group of 4-14 years, in the five Metros —Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai, were studied by nutritionists. They questioned 1,002 working mothers and housewives about their kids snacked on, every day.

Parents in the city should pat their backs as their health conscious decisions are having an impact on what their kids binge on during snack time. Bangalore kids are snacking on —salads, sprouts, idlis, appams, pohas, dosas, and fruits the survey suggests. Any day better than the burgers, pizzas, vada pavs, bhel that Mumbai kids are eating. Or the noodles and pasta kids from Kolkata and Chennai are slurping.

“My kids sometimes have puffed rice with grated carrots,” says a health conscious Babita. But, kids being kids, also manage to have yummy bite-full of chocolates, chips, bajjis, pondas, murku, chakkali, etc.

And even the most health conscious parents confess that they give-in to the demands of their children, once in a while. “But, my son does want to know what he gets (energy/ strength/ good teeth, etc) when he eats something,” says Padmini. She says her son knows that chocolate has too much sugar that is not good for his teeth. Although she says her son isn't a paragon of good health, “he makes an aware choice.”

Parents are acting as “positive influencers” feels Dr Sheela Krishnaswamy, dietician and nutritionist. “Children tend to imitate their parents, teachers and peers.” Parents eating healthy are setting the right example for the kids. However, there is very visible division, she says, “There are a set of very health-conscious parents and then there is the set of mothers who don't mind packing 'off-the-shelf' snack as long as the kids eat something.”

Healthy eating habits are catching on, compared to last five years, awareness among parents has increased, feels Dr Krishnaswamy. “In spite of being working mothers, women are going that extra mile to pack healthy food, ensuring their children eat healthy,” she says.  There is, according to her, a move towards better eating habits not only among themselves [working mothers] but also their kids.

Initiatives by schools are of help too, but Dr Krishnaswamy says they alone aren't responsible. Instead it is the combination of, “mothers becoming health conscious and schools creating awareness in school.” Both these aspects, she says, are working towards city children eating better.