The Nutritional Sciences Preschool sounds a little like my mother's kitchen. Their approach to getting preschoolers to eat healthier fare reminds me of my childhood and also of tricks I used to play to try to get my own children to eat their veggies. The little kiddos are encouraged to play with their food and to learn that it's okay to not eat everything.
The school, affiliated with Rutgers University, was started back in 1991 but lately has been attracting parents and teachers striving to introduce healthier foods to children at ever-younger ages, at a time when concern over childhood obesity and food allergies is increasing. More preschools and day care centers are banning cupcakes, chips and juices from their playrooms, replacing them with hormone-free organic milk and whole-grain snacks. Even SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer have appeared on bags of carrots and spinach in supermarkets.
The preschool tempts the children to choose “anytime foods” for snacks by finding creative ways to make them more palatable. For instance, to get the children to try raw broccoli, teachers told them that they were eating “little trees,” just like the dinosaurs. Spanakopita was passed off as “surprise pie” until someone let slip that it was made of spinach and most of the children turned up their noses.
This sounds great on paper and probably even works for some kids. My mother allowed me to build mashed potato hills on my plate and to plant them with green peas and carrots. I still didn't eat vegetables and didn't develop healthy eating habits until I was an adult. My sister laughs because I was thin when thin wasn't in. People just said skinny back then. I also tried all sorts of food experiences with my own kids and had very little success. I had a daughter who lived on hot sauce and chips. Plus, if my sister and I had heard anyone say Spanakopita, we would have run for the real hills! Maybe it's a family thing.