Dad, Lu, is an administrator in the environmental protection industry who likes sports and making friends. Mom, He, is a nutrition doctor who spends her spare time visiting schools and communities where she shares her knowledge on nutrition. Hardy is an outgoing primary school student who enjoys programming, doing handwork, playing basketball, tennis, and swimming with his dad.
How often do your children eat fast food? What kind of fast food does your family prefer?
[Hardy] eats fries or fried chicken once a month or once every several months. This kind of food tastes good so children love it. But he knows that it’s unhealthy so he can control himself.
What kind of food is considered healthy and what kind of food is unhealthy in your family? What is your family’s attitude towards unhealthy food?
We think vegetables, fruit, meat (both red meat and white meat), eggs, milk, bean products, nuts, and multigrain are healthy food, while fried food or grilled food, pickled food, processed food, drinks, and dessert are unhealthy. Having a balanced diet with a wide variety of food and proper cooking is essential.
What does your family usually eat during mealtime?
We have meat, vegetables, and fruits at every meal. For breakfast, we’ll have eggs, milk, and nuts. For lunch, there will be more, such as a dish with red or white meat. As for cooking, we prefer to steam or stew. There will usually be three to four dishes including a hot dish, a cold dish, and a stewed one. For the main staple, we usually have multigrain. Dinner is often simple with one or two dishes and a bowl of babao porridge or millet congee.
What kind of dietary preferences does each family member have? How do you take that into account when eating?
In my family, the elderly prefer light flavor with vegetables while kids like meat, eggs, and milk, so we’ll try to have a balanced diet and meet everyone’s needs.
Do you deliberately control your children’s diet? If so, how?
Mom controls the diet of family members. So things like drinks, fries, and instant noodles barely appear in our house.
Do you pay attention to the weight of your children? In what ways?
We weigh ourselves every day. If we notice that there’s an excessive increase, we’ll control our diet consciously.
Mom, Eva Biörck, is from Sweden and has lived in Beijing since 1996 where she met her husband, Alex, originally from Colombia. The couple has three beautiful children, a 10-year-old daughter, and 6-year-old twin boys, all of whom were born here. The couple is best known around town as the co-founders of Mosto Restaurant Group, which has founded three brands to date; Mosto, Moka Bros, and La Social.
How often do your children eat fast food? What kind of fast food does your family prefer?
My kids do not eat fast food very often, I would say around three to four times a month. If they had their choice of fast food, they would definitely go with the classic hamburger and fries. My kids also love instant noodles, but we try to only give them fast food when there are no other options available
What kind of food is considered healthy and what kind of food is unhealthy in your family? What is your family’s attitude towards unhealthy food?
For me, unhealthy food is anything that’s excessively oily or fried. When I’m grocery shopping I try to get “healthier” options of things the kids like, for example, whole wheat bread over white bread and brown rice instead of white.
When I think about healthy food, I think of lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed foods. The kids especially love veggie soups and fruit smoothies. I’ve found a great way to sneak extra veggies in the kids’ diets is to add them to smoothies.
Our family has an “everything is fine in moderation” approach towards junk food. On Saturdays, we like to treat the kids to something a little bit unhealthy that they love, maybe some candy or a bag of chips. I grew up in Sweden and my parents always gave me a Saturday treat, it’s a fun weekend tradition I’ve kept up with my own kids.
What does your family usually eat during mealtime?
During mealtimes, our family eats a lot of vegetables, soups, lentil stews, and fish. My daughter is a pescatarian so I have discovered a lot of high-protein, tasty vegetarian dishes that the whole family can eat. My husband Alex makes the kids their favorite Colombian beans.
What kind of dietary preferences does each family member have? How do you take that into account when eating?
Since my daughter is a pescatarian, I tend to make a lot of lentil and veggie stews, fish, and high-protein vegetarian dishes. Besides that, none of them are very fussy with food. My sons love to eat meat. Maybe because they grew up in and around restaurants, but they are all pretty adventurous eaters.
Do you deliberately control your children’s diet? If so, how?
I think all parents try to influence and educate their kids about the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet. It’s important so you can set them up to maintain good habits and healthy lifestyles in the future.
Do you pay attention to the weight of your children? In what ways?
No, we do not. My kids are all active, healthy, and happy – that’s all we could ask for!
This article appeared in the jingkids 2021 March issue
KEEP READING: Five Reasons Not to Miss Jingkids’ Summer Fling on May 22!
Images: Uni You, courtesy of He
