In the new semester, students are returning to school one after another. With the concept of healthy eating deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, parents are paying more and more attention to the management of children's diet nutrition and health. Many parents will tell their children to "eat well" and "not greedy for snacks", and strive to control the "entrance" of their children.
A few days ago, a survey conducted by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily on 1334 parents of children aged 0-14 showed that 75.0% of the interviewed parents had an understanding of what nutrients children of different ages need. 92.8% of the parents surveyed made it clear that parents should pay attention to accumulating children's nutrition knowledge, and parents of children aged 0-3 years old had the strongest awareness.
Zhang Ran is a native of Jiangxi, and his son is in the second year of junior high school and lives in school. He is very concerned about his son's diet at school, "He bought snacks at the stall in front of the school before, and he had a tummy after eating. And children love to drink all kinds of drinks, not water and milk. When he is at home, the adult can still manage it, and when he arrives at school, he is completely on his own. Zhang Ran said that his son's teeth were uncomfortable during the holidays and went to see a dentist, and the doctor said that he had tooth decay, which was due to long-term eating sweets and drinking drinks.
Cheng Lili, an employee of a public institution in Hebei, started school in the fourth grade of primary school and was in a boarding class. Every Sunday afternoon, she drops her children off at school and picks them up on Friday. Because children are at the stage of growing their bodies, Lily Cheng is particularly concerned about food safety. "I always tell my child not to buy junk food at school, to eat three meals a day, and to recharge her with a meal card. Every week, she will take her child to the supermarket to buy food to bring to school, which is more secure than letting her buy it herself. Cheng Lili said that she tries to choose "children's food" every time to feel that this type of food is healthier.
But when asked what exactly is "children's food", Cheng Lili is not very clear, "I feel that it should be green and less added in the way it is made." She said that most of the parents around her attach great importance to their children's diet, and they also respect "children's food" when consuming, but everyone is not very sure whether the "children's food" they buy is really safe.
In this regard, Zhu Yi, associate professor of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, said that there is no precise definition of "children's food" in the mainland, and there is no special national standard for children's food safety. For the production principle of "children's food", she pointed out that it should be possible not to add more, not to add less, adhere to the principle of low oil, low fat and low sugar, and pay attention to the problem of food additives, so that the ingredient list is as clean as possible.
She called for the policy side to promote the development of standards for children's food. "Now there is no good money to drive out bad money in the market, and there are no more scientific communication channels to let parents know how to choose, so many parents are confused about what real children's food is."
75.0% of the parents surveyed have an understanding of the key nutrients needed by children of all ages
Cheng Lili did not specifically understand what nutrients children of different ages should focus on supplementing and what to eat at ordinary times. Often it is the child's physical condition that he inquires and feels quite passive. "Not long ago, the child found out that there was a little anemia, I went to check it on the Internet, and found that many foods rich in iron are not eaten by children, some are not often made at home, and some are partial food that children do not like to eat." This makes her feel that parents should still pay attention to the accumulation of children's nutritional knowledge.
Wang Jing's Erbao from Wuhan, Hubei Province, has not yet been born, and Dabao starts kindergarten in the fall, and now eats breakfast and dinner at home every day. She believes that the quality of "children's food" is uneven, and the nutrition of children's diet, in the final analysis, depends on parents themselves.
Lin Xin is a teacher at a university in Chongqing and the mother of a second child. After giving birth to her first child, she enrolled in several classes on children's diet and nutrition at the confinement center. At that time, the lecturer divided the children into stages according to their age and talked about the nutritional needs of children of different ages. She took notes carefully and now feels very practical. "My eldest was taught by me to eat healthily since I was a child, so I don't have to worry about her diet when I get to school."
According to the survey, 75.0% of the parents surveyed have an understanding of the nutrients that children of all ages need to focus on, of which 11.1% said they are very knowledgeable. At the same time, more than 20% of the parents surveyed (24.9%) bluntly said that they did not understand.
Wang Weichen is the head of an enterprise specializing in the production of deep-sea fish food. In the process of market research, he felt that parents now have a clear preference for additive-free, overseas imports and other products. "There has been an obvious change in demand in the past two years: parents are paying more attention to food health and understanding better. I am more concerned about whether the ingredients are simpler, whether there are additives and preservatives. I think it's a good change. ”
Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in the Chinese food industry, said that after three years of the epidemic, Chinese consumers' health awareness and health knowledge have been improved and enriched. He pointed out that when parents choose food for their children, they should first understand their children's physical condition. "At every stage of a child's development, the nutritional supply is different. It is necessary to give children a finer, more precise and more perfect nutritional supply. At the same time, in real life, we should dynamically pay attention to the child's body and achieve the scientific nature of nutritional ratio. ”
92.8% of the parents surveyed clearly should pay attention to accumulating children's nutrition knowledge
Lin Xin said, "Children are easy to get sick, and to improve the body's resistance, we must start from the usual diet to strengthen the body." And as the saying goes, 'disease comes from the mouth', and it is very troublesome to eat bad things. Parents must accumulate relevant nutritional knowledge, which is essential for the healthy growth of children. ”
In the survey, 92.8% of the interviewed parents clearly attached importance to accumulating children's nutrition knowledge. Among them, parents (95.9%) of children aged 0-3 were the most aware of this.
Cheng Lili said frankly that every time she chooses food for her children, she basically looks at the "eye edge". Although I know some of the publicity routines of the business, I am not very good at scientific identification, and it is too troublesome to check one by one. She believes that parents should accumulate more knowledge about diet and nutrition.
Lin Xin deeply felt that it is not easy for parents to find scientific resources on children's nutrition knowledge. Many so-called "professionals" have no way to scrutinize, and the content is plagiarized from each other, and there are even contradictions, and there is no scientific basis. She hopes that specialized hospitals can open science popularization channels, carry out online theme lectures, and encourage experts from relevant departments to set up content sharing accounts on Weibo and Douyin, so that parents can easily obtain authoritative information.
Zhang Ran believes that students spend most of their time at school, and the food safety of the school and its surroundings must be guaranteed. "It is hoped that the relevant departments will pay attention to supervising the vendors and shops selling food around the school to prevent the emergence of 'three no' products." The school should also strengthen the management of the school canteen, using healthy ingredients and cooking methods. For small shops contracted by third-party parties on campus, food safety issues should be written into the contract, and it is not enough to contract out. ”
"Although many parents have become aware of healthy eating, there are still many people whose awareness is very limited. The weak nutrition awareness of some parents is an important reason for the widespread problem of obesity among adolescents in China. Wang Weichen believes that the whole society should pay more attention to the publicity of children's dietary nutrition knowledge.
At the same time, as the head of a food manufacturing company, he also stressed that companies have a responsibility to promote healthy eating concepts. "For example, we are doing fish products, and we have been popularizing the subdivision types and differences between different species of fish through our own publicity channels, as well as the suitable people. I hope that more brands will participate in the knowledge popularization of healthy food in the future. ”
Among the parents of the children surveyed, 33.1% were 0-3 years old, 43.0% were 4-6 years old, 19.0% were 7-12 years old, and 4.9% were 13-14 years old.
(Lilac Xueyu also contributed to this article) (Reporter Du Yuanchun)
Source: China Youth Daily