There will be no Happy Meals for the Calombaris kids after celebrity chef George Calombaris revealed he packs his children home made meals when the head off to a birthday party at McDonalds.
The MasterChef judge told news.com.au he was not “the fun police” banning his kids from Mickey D’s but he simply treats food like a faith and it seems he consider the temptation of a Big Mac the apple in the Garden of Eden.
“For me, I look at food like my religion and I have my beliefs in food,” says George. “My son knows … we’ll drive past a certain fast food chain and he’ll go, ‘that’s bad in there, isn’t it, Dad?’ and I explain it’s not about bad, it’s about having choices in life.”
The 36-year-old TV chef explains it was his father’s battle with bowel cancer – which he beat twice – and his passion for quality cooking that drives him to restrict the food eaten by his son James and daughter Michaela.
The Melbourne-based chef – who shed 20 kilos in 2013 through eating regularly and playing soccer with mates – isn’t the only high profile parent taking a hard line on fast food.
Actress and health guru Gwyneth Paltrow once revealed she starved her kids of carbohydrates while supermodel Doutzen Kroes said her son hadn’t tasted processed sugar until after the age of three.
Nowadays it is quite common for parents to put in tough bans on children’s diets but is it effective to stop them from developing bad habits later in life?
According to a Flinders University study done this year banning food and punishing children’s eating habits doesn’t work.
“The results indicate that overtly controlling parental feeding practices like restrictive feeding are associated with poorer child dietary outcomes,” Lead author, Samantha Boots said in May.
The survey of 611 South Australian mothers of children aged 2-7 found that unhealthy snack intake was predicted by higher instances of parents using restrictive feeding methods instead of employing more covert control.
According to the findings the most effective way to make children eat well was by positive interaction such as parents setting a good example of eating practices in their own diets, shopping at healthy food outlets, and buying wholesome foods.
Gallery: Celebrities who have strong ideas about what feed your kids.
No Happy Meals for George Calombaris’ kids after he revealed he packs them home made meals when they head off to a birthday party at McDonalds.
Foodie Gwyneth Paltrow is a big fan of giving her kids healthy fresh food and was once quoted: “I’d rather smoke crack than eat cheese from a can.”
Supermodel Elle Macpherson is reportedly a fan of putting the whole family on an “alkaline diet” which avoids acid-forming sugar, coffee, dairy and refined carbs so, white bread, pasta, alcohol and animal protein are gone.
Supermodel and mother-of-two Doutzen Kroes said her son hadn’t tasted processed sugar until after the age of three.
When Miranda Kerr’s son was a baby the model was all about making sure nothing was processed. “I really make sure everything is organic,” she said at the time. “He drinks coconut water.” Doesn’t sound so bad to us!
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