Healthier family meal time is the focus of a new curriculum being taught to preschool children and their parents from low-income Rochester families.
The program is not about portion control or nutrients. Instead, it focuses on strategies to end the power struggles that often occur between kids and parents.
"Forcing a kid to try a new food or saying 'Don't you like it?' very rarely causes them to say 'Yeah, that broccoli was delicious, Mom. I'm so glad you made it for me,' " said Elizabeth Ruder, associate professor at RIT's Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition.
Ruder says if parents choose what children are going to eat, then kids should then decide if or how much they will eat.
The program also teaches children about what a family meal is.
"So for example, if the kids are at the table but the mom is over at the counter, that's not a family meal,” Ruder said. “If people are looking at their phones rather than talking to each other, that wouldn't be considered a family meal."
The NEEDs for Tots program is being presented to 280 children enrolled in preschool at the Volunteers of America Children's Center.
