Hey guys,
we are delighted to start our new „Did you know …?!“ section.
For the start, there´s already two questions we´d like to ask you:
1) Did you know that especially childen benefit in various ways from eating meals regularly with their families?
2) Did you know that approximately 20% of North Europeans and Americans, and the majority of the world´s population malabsorb lactose (=the sugar in dairy products)?
You may now ask how these two questions are related to each other.
Being intolerant or allergic to food in a family that loves to eat the products you can´t digest is no fun :-(. You´re often labelled as the odd one out – though you are incredibly normal, just think of the numbers concerning lactose-intolerance in question #2.
But there´s more to it than this. While many real allergies to food grow out until a certain age (esp. allergies to cow´s milk, peanuts, eggs, tree nuts, wheat, and soy), the number of food intolerances later in life has been on the rise.
Plus: Today, we have the possibility to really choose how, and what, we want to eat – i.e. being a „normal“ eater, being pescetarian, becoming a vegetarian, going vegan …. Whenever before were there so many choices?
At this point, we come to full circles with the first question: Today´s families are busier than ever, and often enough – already without having this „extra“ of an intolerance, allergy, or preference – they struggle to eat together at least once a day. If on top of this there are several medical conditions and/or preferences (like many adolescents deciding to go vegetarian, at least temporarily), it becomes really very difficult to consider all needs. And, somehow, rather often new conflicts are on the rise. On the other hand, it is scientifically proven that children who regularly eat with their families show better academic performance, a higher self-esteem, a lower risk of substance abuse, teen pregnancy and depression, a lower likelihood of developing an eating disorder, and lower rates of obesity. These facts we wrote about here may appear as diametrically opposed, or even the one excluding the other – having only very little or no time, being advised to share a meal together, and, on top of all of this, considering all spezial needs. Therefore, the aim of our project is to show you how to tackle exactly these tasks related to food and eating together.
As all in our team have experienced those situations – being the odd one out, being labbeled as the grinch – an inumerable amount of times, we have decided to embark on this journey to provide you with information about the common and not-so-common medical conditions in terms of food – and how to solve eating problems related to these, thereby establishing this utmost important ritual of eating together in your family. That means, you will not only find theoretical data on this blog, but also a lot of recipes in which we offer solutions how to adjust simply one meal so that it fits for all, no matter due to whatever reasons it has to be adjusted.
We hope you feel encouraged to embark on this journey with us! As we have lived to see the benefits of changing our attitudes and approaches, we are able to promise that the changes for the better (for you, your wellbeing, and family´s quality of life) are truly beyond measure!
Yours
thehappyfamilyfoodproject-team
References:
Turnbull JL, Adams HN, Gorard DA (2014). Review article: the dianosis and management of food allergy and food intolerances. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 41(1):3-25
Guandalini S, Newland C (2011). Differentiating food allergies from food intolerances. Curr Gastroenterol Rep 13(5):426-434
The importance of family dinners VI – VII. Reports from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (*CASA) at Columbia University.
URL: http://www.casacolumbia.org/addiction-research/reports/importance-of-family-dinners-2011
Neumark-Sztainer D (2009). Preventing obesity and eating disorders in adolescents: what can health care providers do? J Adolesc Health 44(3):206-213
Snow CE, Beals DE (2006). Mealtime talk that supports literacy development. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev 2006(111):51-66