Apparently, British teenagers are the first generation to be less healthy than their parents, and I read recently that increasing numbers of children are becoming anorexic, some of them, unbelievably, as young as six- and seven- years-old. But maybe it’s not surprising that kids are resorting to starving themselves when so many adults are permanently stressed out and pre-occupied with food. If the parents are anxious and confused – withholding treats with one hand and feeding their children processed rubbish with the other – while their teachers search their lunchboxes for illicit chocolate biscuits and packets of crisps, what are they supposed to think?

Constantly subjected to images of size zero models and the idealistic, unrealistic zeal of humourless healthy eating gurus on one hand; continually bombarded by the message that junk food and fizzy drinks are cool on the other – is it any wonder that going without nourishment altogether is starting to seem like the only alternative to obesity in the minds of impressionable young children? But despite this grim picture, we can count ourselves lucky that you don’t need to be an expert on anything to feed your children a healthy, balanced diet with very little money and hardly any time, even if you have a tiny kitchen, only three saucepans (one with an ill-fitting lid) and no fancy gadgets unless you count the garlic crusher.

Although it sometimes feels like an uphill struggle, whether your children are little gems who eat whatever you put in front of them, tough cookies who seem to leave more on the plate than you put there or, like most kids, a combination of the two, cooking real food is nowhere near as exhausting, tricky or unrewarding as some people make it out to be. Finally, and speaking from experience, it doesn’t matter where or how you live, feeding your children good food and laying the groundwork for the healthiest possible future is something that every one of us has in our power to get right.

Fussy Eaters

There can’t be many children who don’t go through a fussy stage, whether it’s one type of food they don’t like, food generally (heaven help you), or a particular time of day when they don’t seem to want to eat anything.

Whatever it is, it’s not worth losing your temper over; all that does is frighten the child and make the situation worse. Be prepared to be patient, even if you’re feeling anxious, and remind yourself that the important thing is to encourage your children to eat, and eventually enjoy food, without turning mealtimes into a battleground, because if that happens, you really will have trouble on your hands.

I’ve found there are two schools of thought when it comes to persuading kids to eat. Either talk to them about their food; let them know exactly what it is and where it comes from, or try and disguise whatever they don’t like so they end up eating some of the right foods without realising. It’s a case of working out which way works best in your house, and at the risk of confusing the issue, you’ll probably find it will be a little bit of both.

Just remember that children have seldom, if ever, starved themselves completely, or incurred any lasting damage to their health by refusing certain foods, even kids who exist on a diet of baked beans and jelly babies, or some other weird combination, for months at a time.

Of course it’s better all round if they learn to like a wide variety of foods early on and, from a personal point of view, I don’t see any harm in offering a reward in the form of a pudding, or a very few sweets after dinner every day if that helps. Having said that, it’s a good idea to give fruit as a treat sometimes (especially in the summer months when the really good stuff is in season: strawberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches and plums, among other things) rather than the more obvious sweet treats, so children don’t differentiate between nutritious and ‘naughty but nice’ things too soon, in which case they’re naturally going to want the latter every time.

Like everything else in life it’s a question of finding the right balance, so be firm without being too forceful and you’ll soon be able to spot the difference between a child who genuinely dislikes something, and one who’s just pushing his luck because he’d rather eat a bag of crisps than a bowl of soup.

There’s no better way for children to develop good eating habits than watching their parents eat and enjoy food, so eat together as a family whenever you can, or if the children are very young and have dinner earlier than you, at least stay in the same room, and preferably sit down with them, so you can have a conversation and help them along if they’re struggling.

Try not to fly off the handle when they refuse to eat something the first fifty-five times, and shower them with praise and admiration when they do try. It’s easy to forget that children actually want to please their parents most of the time (children under the age of twelve anyway), so make them feel good about themselves and lay off the guilt. There’ll be plenty of time for that later on when they’re selfish, ungrateful teenagers who treat the house like a hotel and don’t appreciate anything you’ve done for them.