For Related Articles and More Information, Please Visit OCA’s All About Organics Page and our Health Issues Page.

 Children with strict parents are more likely to be overweight, a new study has claimed.This warning comes weeks after British parents were criticised for being too lenient – an indulgence which was, according to Sarah Beeny, television presenter and mother of four, fueling Britain’s obesity crisis. So what can parents do to encourage healthy eating in their children?

We need to help children learn where their food comes from, who grows it, and why it’s important to share meals with friends and family.

Here are 10 ways families can eat with greater awareness and engage young people in food and agriculture.

1. Read books about food. There are dozens of books that teach kids about where food comes from, who grows it, and what sorts of foods are both healthy and delicious. To Market, To Market by Nikki McClure, for example, is a story of mother and son who go to the weekly farmers’ market where they learn how each food they come across was grown or produced. Or The Good Garden by Katie Smith Milway, where a teacher at Maria’s school introduces her to sustainable farming practices that she begins to implement in her family’s garden at home.

2. Play games. More and more computer and video games are incorporating food, like DooF (the word ‘food’ backwards), a combination of computer games, videos, and a website where kids can read and learn about food-related topics. DooF takes a comprehensive approach to food, exploring not only the food itself, but also the culture, science, and history behind it. Kids can play “Planet DooF”, geared toward teaching children the origin of healthy food, such as fruits and vegetables.