Nutritional advice for children: visit from the food nanny

Oh dear, hopefully she will not look in the fridge right away. Ironically, today there are half-chucked chocolate pudding and a bottle of soda. But zero-common vegetables are in it, because the peasants in front of our house were already mined when I came home from work. "Oskar, finish your ice cream," pushes Leo, 8, his six-year-old brother, when it rings.

The nutritionist comes. Margit Mühlichen, 45, an ecotrophologist from Hennef, advises families and kindergartens on how to eat healthier food. We think of it as a mix of super nanny and Jamie Oliver. She had sent strict lists before her visit, for seven days we had to make strokes for every biscuit, every gram of butter and every teaspoon of jam. Nutrition protocol. The vocabulary already made Oskar super, and lists are the biggest thing for kids anyway. "Where's my nutritional record?" He yelled, barely had he bitten into a chocolate croissant.

Now we are waiting for the billing. She will finish us, the men in my household are quite sure. In addition to Leo and Oskar, this includes my partner Matthias, 49, who just ran a 10-kilometer run in the protocol week and then had to make five strokes in the category "wheat beer" ("All professional runners drink!"). And his son Niki, 14, who comes to visit on weekends and fills our barren pantry with loads of chips, peanut flips and cola, but notes on his log: "Athletes! Football!"



First surprise: Frau Muhlichen does not wear black glasses or combat uniform, is more of a maternal type. And she just says a lot of nice things. That it's great how much yogurt we eat. She praises that Leo takes cucumber slices into the school break. And thinks that Niki's calorie balance is totally okay because he plays so much football. How now - and where is the whip?

Instead, she lays colorful cards on the table, as in the memory game, on which zucchini, pizza and croissants are so deliciously photographed that you want to bite right away. It's like a traffic light, she explains to the children: Every day you should eat something red, something yellow and something green, then you can be reasonably sure to have enough vitamins. And they are like "boxers in the body," she explains the immune system.



Traffic light, the children get it. So we look in the colorful maps for fruits and vegetables in the right colors. "Do you like cauliflower?" Asks Mühlich. "Wow, disgusting!" Screams Oskar. Carrots? "Hi, that's the worst!", Explains Leo. Paprika? "I hate paprika!", Oskar yells, climbs onto the table and spits a piece of Hefeweckchen on the plate for emphasis. How embarrassing, we would have rather needed a nanny than a food nanny. But Mrs. Mühlichen remains calm, she has a nine-year-old daughter herself and knows their limited patience.

In order to occupy Oscar, he may pour bean kernels into his hand, so he should get an idea of ​​quantities. "As much as fits in your hand - you do not have to eat more of fruits and vegetables." But Oskar is not stupid and pushes the black Peter on his mother. "Well, let's see what the mom has bought." He opens the fridge. There's nothing yellow here, nothing red here, what's up tonight? " There are noodles with salmon cream sauce - one of about three and a half dishes, with which I can safely score with my children. They love it. And me, when I cook it, logo.

Salmon is okay, says Ms Mühlichen. Lots of fat, but good fat. I should therefore fry him in sparkling water in the future instead of in oil. And not always pasta, sometimes rice or potatoes. But with potatoes there's no standing ovation for the cook.



Now we are already a whole corner smarter. Knowing that a croissant has 21 fat points, a bun just one. That beer dries out the body even more after exercise. And that chips red-white look like a traffic light, but unfortunately contain hardly any vitamins.

Four weeks, we now have time to implement our new knowledge. We vary, quite gender-specifically, between obedience and rebellion. I dutifully cut a tomato every meal and quarter apples like a world champion ("A handful is enough!"). However, my enthusiasm waned after a few days, because none other than me touching the colorful gifts.

My partner claims that with the beer after the run would not get sports amateurs ("Hey, out there is the jungle, man!"). But without a trace of advice does not pass him. The croissants, which he brings from the bakery the next morning as usual, do not touch anyone. 21 fat spots. Bah.

And Leo and Oscar, like all the children the notorious world improvers, carry the traffic light mission to kindergarten and after-school care. "There's nothing yellow on my plate, it's all fat!"

After four weeks, the nanny comes back. This time our storage cupboard is full of nectarines, pears, tomatoes and cucumbers. Only - unfortunately we have to confess to Mrs. Mühlichen for the first time that we already ate a lot of ice cream today. It was hot, the boys were hungry, Oskar had too little food on his trip, and we only had five minutes on the way home. Nothing works faster than a popsicle.

But even that does not kill Mrs. Mühlichen. She also does not look at the sight of a two-meter plastic waffle ice cream cone, which is now in the kitchen. Matthias bought her on eBay. No, she says that great phrase, "Sweets are a part of life." Breathing in the room.

Again, there is a lot of positive reinforcement. Everything is alright. But ... now Leo has to calculate correctly, although he hates arithmetic. He is allowed to consume 60 fat points per day. An ice cream has 10 fat spots. Goes well, if you do not butter on the break bread, instead of jam bread in the morning cereal eats and at lunch in the hoard only the side dishes instead of the fat bratwurst. Moody, Leo and the consultant mix the colorful memory cards together for a perfect day. And she has to patiently listen to the clever knowledge from seven years of children's channel. "Knowledge makes Ah!" and "The Broadcast with the Mouse" have already given Leo a lot of basic nutrition knowledge. "Of ten boxes of water, only two remain in the body!", He lectures, in principle mistrusts all test labels ("It's all shit!") And doubts that milk comes from real cows.

Frau Mühliche cleverly directs the childish know-it-all to the next lesson. Then you read what's on the nut nougat cream, "she says, and together they decipher how much fat is in there and that sometimes sugar appears under a" fake name "than" do not believe it " Fructose, maltitol or xylitol. So: in the future, there will only be bread once a week. On the other days good muesli is eaten. But, we've really stuck with that since then, thank you, Mrs. Just yesterday, when we wanted to buy new cereal, was right next to the healthy mixture, unfortunately, a pack with a lot of bad sugar in it. But also with laser swords from "Star Wars". Leo fought hard in front of the shelf. Mrs. Mühlichen, his new superego, is strong. But unfortunately, Luke Skywalker was stronger then. For once, we decided to buy the sugar flakes. Because, finally: sweets are part of life.

Where can I find a food nanny?

addresses: Over the Internet can be quickly find a food coach or a nutritionist. But the job title is not protected. To be on the safe side, you should contact the Association of Graduate Oecotrophologists (VDOE): Reuterstraße 161 53113 Bonn Tel. 0228 / 28922-0 Fax 0228 / 28922-77 E-Mail: vdoe@vdoe.de

At www.vdoe.de addresses of consultants in your area are mentioned. You will also find what you are looking for at www.quetheb.de.

Office: Institut Quetheb e.V., Miriam Hermann Schloßplatz 1 83410 Laufen Tel. 08682/954400 Fax 08682/954498 E-Mail: info@quetheb.de.

Or ask your health insurance. She has a list of nutritionists who are allowed to settle with the health insurance companies.

Costs: A nutritionist requires between 25 and 60 euros for the initial consultation and 35 to 45 euros an hour for follow-up counseling. When it comes to providing advice about overweight (BMI over 27) or other diet-related illnesses, the health insurances pay part of the costs, in children in such cases usually even the total costs.

Book tips:

"With 100 things through the kitchen What boys like to eat and like to cook" Christoph Biermann / Hilke Rosenboom, 16,90 Euro, Hanser If you play football, you need a healthy athlete fight with peanuts, dried fruit and chocolate beans. And the "crisis chicken" succeeds even very small chefs. Christoph Biermann from the "Sendung mit der Maus" and the ex "star" journalist Hilke Rosenboom have written a coolly illustrated cookbook for boys, including "Tricks from the Psycho Box" for notorious salad refusers, semi-hard kindergarten colleagues and eternal grumblers.

"What are you eating? The dictionary of healthy and unhealthy baby nutrition" Annette Sabersky, 16,95 Euro, Urania Does my child get enough nutrients? What to do if it does not tolerate everything? Are children's foods okay? The nutrition expert Annette Sabersky answers the most important questions that parents have - from A for weight loss to Z for sugar.

The Food Nanny Post Overs (March 2024).



Dietary advice, Hennef, Jamie Oliver, children's prescription, nutritional advice