Food is essentially the fuel that keeps us all nourished and going.

Food can also hold a more

profound meaning at times, food can mean love when a mother feeds her child, food can mean
comfort on difficult days but most importantly food can be said to be what ensures continuity of
life. Hence, it is not far-fetched to conclude that the food we consume essentially defines our
lives for the better or worse. We become what we eat. This rings true especially for children who
are going through rapid growth phases that demand top notch nutrition to aid the process. The
objective of this discussion is to delve deeper into this matter of how healthy and nutritious food
needs to be prepared to meet the demands of a child’s body and the on-goings within that keeps a
child healthy and at their optimum. Aside from preparation itself, the other objectives would be
to go through the factors that help us determine how a child’s meal should be prepared and how
to ensure that the preparation process ensures safe food to be consumed.

I believe preparing a healthy meal for a child encompasses many factors. The first one being its
nutritional content. Before moving on to what nutritional means contextually, let us look at the
literal definition of this common term. Nutrition means the process of taking in food and using it
for growth, metabolism and repair. So, contextually, nutritional food means food that is capable
of providing for growth, metabolism and repair ; food that sustains and fuels these processes. It is
commonplace today that most of our foods have labels declaring what benefits they bring and
their nutritional composition for consumers to weigh their options. The preparation of healthy
food begins here. When shopping for food to prepare meals, it is important to go for reduced or
low-fat options, lean and skinless meat cuts while keeping fast foods, chips, crisps, processed
meats, sugary pastries and pies to a minimum. It is also important to choose a good and
appealing range of fruits and vegetables to diversify and enrich the meal to be prepared. First and
foremost when preparing a healthy meal for a child, one must mind the portions. It is
recommended that half the child’s plate be filled with fruits and vegetables while one quarter
with whole grains and a little less than one quarter be laden with sources of proteins such as lean
meat, nuts or eggs. This ensures the child is satiated while being well-nourished.

Aside from the portions, the methods of preparation tend to determine how nutritious and
healthy foods are. When preparing meals for children, it is important to pay attention to the fat
content of the meal, making an effort to reduce it by simply using small amount of oil if need be
or even adding the vegetables that need browning into a hot pan first followed by oil to reduce
the amount of oil the vegetables absorb while cooking. Not forgetting, the infamous way of
cooking these days, using an air fryer! Eliminating oil altogether. Alternatively, avoiding oil
would be better by attempting to cook in liquids such as stock, lemon juice, bone broth, fruit
juice or even water. Furthermore, when making soups or sauces, cream can be substituted with
cornstarch or even low fat yoghurt. To retain the nutrients of vegetables, the preparer can
microwave and steam vegetables instead of boiling them or boiling them for shorter periods of
time in lesser water. Stir fried vegetable dishes which cook quickly retain both their crunch and
nutrients can also be a good choice. The most important thing to do when preparing nutritious
meals is to cut down on the salt! It is as simple as adding lemon juice or vinegar towards the end
of cooking to enhance flavours in the same way as salt does, instead of salt itself. The preparer
can also opt for fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned as they tend to be packaged with
salt. Choosing iodised salt can also benefit children as it becomes a major dietary source of
iodine. Reducing consumption of processed salty foods, cheese and sauces can also be a good
way to ensure a healthy meal. The minute changes in purchases made and preparation style can
make all the difference.

Furthermore, food preparation for children needs to address one of the most serious issues
which is sugar content. It is proven in studies that children today between the ages of 36 to 71
months old have a mean sugar consumption of approximately 94.7 grams of sugar a day,
contributing approximately to 28.4% to total energy intake exceeding the WHO recommendation
of less than 10% total energy from added sugar to prevent dental caries and diet-related chronic
diseases later in life. This is a threat that looms dangerously over our children as children tend to
enjoy sweet foods and most foods nowadays contain more sugar than we are prepared to believe.
Hence, when preparing nutritious meals, it is important that food preparers are well informed
about the sugar content of food items and avoid or reduce serving sugary cereals, candies,
pastries or even juices. Certain times we believe that store bought fruit juices are nutritious and
good for children when in fact children experience more detrimental effects than benefit from
those very juices due to their high sugar content that nullifies their nutritional composition.

The second factor to preparing a healthy meal is to make it appealing, for not all that is
nutritious is pleasant. This is where variety and ways of preparing come into play. Children tend
to eat with all their senses. The food has to be pleasant to the eye and of a suitable and preferred
texture in order to appeal to a child. This obviously comes with much trial and error for not every
child may like the same visuals or textures. Exposing children to a variety of foods not only
gives them a well refined palate but also gives parents the opportunity to determine the likes and
dislikes of their children. Ways to make meals appealing include adding a snack as a reward,
using children’s favourite fruits and vegetables, cutting the foods into fun, bite-sized shapes or
even using fun cutlery and dishes. Some children also tend to not like very hot or cold foods,
hence it is important to recognise these details and serve food accordingly. Aside from these
methods, making mealtimes pleasant also helps. By creating enthusiasm around mealtimes and
healthy foods, children feel comfortable and tend to feel enthusiastic as well. Here is where
leading by example plays a role. Children watch their grown ups for cues more than we think and
watching their parents enjoy healthy meals and eat the same things that they do definitely gives a
good impact. Another good way to keep meals interesting is to also vary melas and serve new or
well-liked foods in varying periods. Meal times and consuming healthy meals become less of a
hassle for both parents and children when the way the meals are presented are shifted up now
and then to create interest surrounding food instead of aversion.
 Moving on to the third factor, which is cost. It is important that we realise that not all families
have the liberty to purchase high end foods or do not work with a tight budget due to family
sizes. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the household expenditure in
urban areas as of 2019 is RM 4916 while in rural areas, it is RM 3038 per month. Cost also plays
an important role in food preparation as it ensures sustainability for the family and children in the
long term. To ensure cost-efficient meals, it is important to analyse and assess every component
that goes into meal preparation. This primarily means the ingredients, trying to cut down on pre
made items like pre made pizza dough and attempting to make these items from scratch can save
a lot. Aside from that, making a menu and determining recipes to be made for each meal will
cause less to be spent on fast food or convenient meals. Furthermore, shopping at farmer’s
markets for items that are in season will also prove to cut down on expenses. It is also important
to know what children like to eat to avoid wastage and aimless purchases. Instead, knowing what
children enjoy eating helps the preparer purchase accurate items and stay close to the budget.
Ensuring that the meals are pocket-friendly will also ensure the healthy practices continue and do
not see an end due to financial constraints.

After preparing healthy meals, it is important to ensure that the meals are both safe and healthy.
In order to achieve these goals, a plethora of factors must be considered. First, hazard
identification should actively be done. Hazards are basically biological, chemical or physical
agents that may affect the food production causing injury or illness. Identifying and
acknowledging the possible surrounding factors will help the preparer be more vigilant
throughout the preparation process. For example, if it is known that the preparer is unwell,
wearing a mask to avoid infectious air droplets infecting food is a good proactive step. Aside
from that, using a glove ensures hygiene and less possibility of infection caused by contact
between contaminated surfaces and the food. Furthermore, keeping the food in appropriate
temperatures to avoid spoiling and covering the food to avoid exposure to hazards also ensure
safety and quality of meal prepared. Adding on, ensuring the food preparation premises is
pest-free will also ensure that the food is both safe and healthy. Paying close attention to food
handling, storage and transport will ensure that the food prepared is safe for children. Meeting
requirements of personal hygiene by washing hands, wearing hair nets and aprons is also an
important factor. Usage of appropriate and clean cutlery, not mixing utensils used for raw and
cooked food will avoid cross contamination ensuring optimal safety of food.

Ensuring that a meal is healthy is essentially the same as making sure that it is nutritious.
Healthy food essentially consists of foods prepared at home, which are micro-processed and
contain low sugar, salt and fat content. Choosing foods with plenty of fruits and vegetables also
ensures a healthy meal every time it is prepared. Aside from that, sugary drinks should be
avoided and opting to serve plain water to children ensures healthy meals. Furthermore, taking
care in the ways of preparation to avoid unhealthy components or even reduce them to the best of
capabilities helps make sure that meals served are healthy. Making simple choices such as whole
grains instead of refined grains, no added salt butter and margarine instead of salted ones
definitely helps ensure that meals made from these carefully curated ingredients are sure to be
healthy as well.

Summarising the ideas, there are many factors that come into play in the process of food
preparation. Especially when it concerns children as children require the best nutrition any meal
can afford to offer. Hence, when preparing foods, it is important to take into account even the
most minute factors and make an effort to comply to them. Aside from paying attention to details
and carefully curating ingredients, the most important thing about preparing healthy and safe
meals for children is the sustainability in the process. It is important that parents, caregivers or
even food preparers pay attention and care constantly throughout the process regardless of time.
These healthy practices, with time, transcend generations, making our descendants evolve into
healthier and more capable individuals. It is important that we continually make an effort to
serve healthy and safe meals for children as every morsel of food they eat essentially becomes
the “raw material” their bodies use to build new cells every day. Healthy food, make healthy
children.

References :
1. Pregnancy Birth & Baby (n.d.).
Planning Healthy Meals for Children.

https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/planning-healthy-meals-for-children

2. Department of Statistics Malaysia (2020, July 10).

Household Expenditure Survey Report 2019

https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/ctwoByCat&parent_id=119&menu_id=amVo
WU54UTl0a21NWmdhMjFMMWcyZz09

3. BMC Public Health (n.d.)..

Correlates of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption of Malaysian
Preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-08461-7