As adults our relationship with food is often established during our childhood. According to our text, many adults overfeed children, not realizing that young children are naturally thin. Many children eat too much of nutritionally poor foods consuming too much sugar and too little fiber, which could result in obesity and poor oral health. Food allergies can also be an issue with some children. Many children outgrow their food allergies identified early in life while other food allergies may increase with age. Food insecurity, the lack of consistent access to enough food for an active healthy life, is also an issue for many children. (For more information about food insecurity including an interactive map of national, state a, and local statistics see https://map.feedingamerica.org/
INSTRUCTIONS
Keep a food diary for 48 hours, writing down what you eat, how much, when, how, and why. Then think about your eating and nutrition habits in early childhood. Did your food habits originate in early childhood, in adolescence, or at some other time? Explain. Share if you have any food allergies and when they were discovered. Did you ever experience food insecurity? How would not knowing when or where your next meal would be as a child impact your relationship with food? What other memories do you have from your childhood that are associated with food? Do you consider your current relationship with food to be healthy? Why or why not? Share your food diary and insights (responses to the prompts provided) in a reflective paper using proper sentence structure and paragraph format. Your submission should be at least one page (250 words) in length but may be longer.
