CULINARY WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN “SWEET LITTLE CLASSROOM”: Preference should be given to healthy sweets and desserts
December 21, 2023
Events, Health, Project News
On Friday, December 1, 2023, we held a cooking workshop called “Sweet little classroom” (“Slatka mala učionica”) at Bistro Zdravo for a small group of children aged 6 to 11.
This was our organization’s first workshop for our youngest citizens and their parents.
WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR US TO ORGANIZE THIS WORKSHOP?
Eating habits are a mirror of the health of each individual throughout his life. From the beginning, nutrition has a great influence on human growth and development, as well as the prevention of the development of chronic diseases in adulthood. Children very quickly begin to feed themselves and choose foods according to their own needs. Just then, it is necessary to gradually educate them about proper eating habits and food selection.
Currently, obesity is the most common childhood disorder in the European region, where about 20% of children are overweight, and a third of them are obese and at increased risk of various chronic diseases.
Sweets and sugar are a big problem, and in childhood they are almost unavoidable.
Do you know how much sugar children consume today?
Studies have shown that children aged 1-3 years usually consume 12 teaspoons of sugar per day (60 g) through various drinks, sweets and industrially processed products. Children aged 4-8 consume an average of 21 teaspoons of sugar per day, and adolescents aged 14-18 consume 34 teaspoons. This indicates that children and adolescents consume three and a half times more sugar than the recommended intake limit!
Sweets should be given to the child in limited quantities and at the same time it should be made aware of why it is necessary to be moderate in the consumption of sugar. It should be explained to the child that too much sugar is unhealthy for the teeth, body and general condition of the organism and often takes the place of healthier food that should be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks.
Our wish was to organize a healthy cooking workshop in which parents and children will participate, and through which children will learn the skills of cooking and choosing healthy foods, and in this way spread the story among them about the importance of healthy and proper nutrition.
Given that sugar is a big problem for children’s health, we decided to devote our first culinary workshop to making healthy desserts and sweets!
HEALTHY SWEETS AND DESSERTS
When making desserts, it is important to give preference to natural and as little processed sources of sugar as possible. When preparing your favorite cakes, instead of white sugar, try using natural sweeteners such as cereal malts, such as barley or rice malt or agave syrup, which will provide a pleasant sweet taste to desserts and sweets.
When we talk about healthy desserts, we definitely have to mention fruits and nuts, which we can use with selected grains to prepare healthy cakes and imaginative sweet porridges. For those who like slightly less sweet desserts, cakes and desserts with pumpkin and carrots are excellent. Dried fruit also goes well with desserts.
At the “Sweet Little Classroom” workshop, children learned how to make healthy New Year’s sweets!
Our little chefs worked hard, rolling out the dough, cutting cookie shapes using molds, and then “coloring” the baked cookies with chocolate and colorful sugar crumbs. In addition to the healthier version of New Year’s cookies, the children made energy balls from carrots, nuts and dried fruit, which they decorated with “snow” (coconut).
With a few ingredients, they made real masterpieces, but created a wonderful working atmosphere with plenty of fun and laughter!
During the workshop, through practical food preparation and food preparation, children develop not only awareness of healthy eating, but also improve fine motor skills, coordination, self-confidence, independence, but also teamwork – ingredients, molds, rolling pins and hugs were exchanged.
Our educator Ena Tešić, master of nutrition and owner of the “Veggae” Nutritional Counseling Center, made sweets with the children.
Parents, that is, mothers of children, participated in the workshop. It is very important that parents take time for their children and include them in the preparation and planning of meals, because it has been proven that children will be more open to trying various foods, which they normally refuse to eat, if they are given the opportunity to be part of the organization and preparation.
Also, this was a wonderful way to get closer to the children, where they could support them at the workshop and try their delicious creations with coffee. The tasting was the sweetest part of the workshop.
Many thanks to our educator Ena for the wonderful culinary workshop.
Of course, we thank all the parents who showed interest and registered their children and came with them to our workshop.
We hope that you were delighted with the new flavors and that you found new motivation for a healthier lifestyle and that you will give more priority to healthier sweets and desserts, taking into account their positive impact on health.
See you at one of the next VivaBiH events for our youngest.
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