健康生活:讓孩子吃得五彩繽紛
My boys are only 7 and 9, but the eye-rolling has begun. Last night I got it in spades. I started talking about what each color fruit and vegetable does for our bodies and why it is important to eat a rainbow of foods. Apparently, they have heard this too many times, because the minute I started talking they started rolling their eyes.
我的兩個兒子，一個7歲，一個9歲，但是我昨天晚上發現他們已經學會轉眼珠了。我跟他們講各種顏色的水果和蔬菜給身體帶來的好處以及爲什麼我們要吃五顏六色的食物。很明顯，他們已經聽過太多次了，因爲我剛一開始講他們就開始轉眼珠，表示很明白了。Because they are such experts, I asked whether they could please teach their toddler sister why each color food is good for her. I figured the timing was perfect, as she is learning her colors and body parts. They rolled their eyes at me again, asserting that a 1-year-old will not understand. But because they love to teach her anything, they went along with it. She relished all of the attention.
因爲他們幾乎是專家級人物了，所以我問他們可不可以告訴他們剛學走路的小妹妹爲什麼每種顏色的食物對她有好處。我覺得我小女兒這個年紀是瞭解這些知識的最佳時間，因爲她正在學習各種顏色以及身體的部位。兩個兒子又朝我轉了轉眼珠，堅定地認爲一個1歲的小孩兒無法理解這麼深奧的東西。但是因爲他們喜歡教她一切事情，於是就陪她一起學。我的小女兒很喜歡兩個哥哥的關心和照料。Here is what my boys told my daughter:
以下就是我的兒子們告訴我的小女兒的事情。
— Orange and yellow vegetables and fruits are good for your eyes, so if you want to see a baseball pitch coming your way or be able to read at night, you should eat a lot of pineapple, yellow peppers and yellow summer squash.
——橙色和黃色：橙色和黃色的蔬菜水果對於眼睛很有好處，所以如果你想要看清朝你飛來的棒球或者能夠在晚上看書，你就應該多吃菠蘿、黃辣椒以及黃色的西葫蘆。— Blue and purple fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, blackberries, plums, eggplant and purple carrots have been shown to improve memory. If you want to remember all the things that Mom forgets, you should keep eating blue and purple foods.
——藍色和紫色：如同藍莓、黑莓、李子、茄子和紫胡蘿蔔等藍色和紫色的蔬果對於提升記憶力有很好的功效。如果你想要記住老媽忘記的所有事情，那你也應該堅持吃藍色和紫色的食物。— Red foods, and unfortunately not the synthetic dyed ones, support your heart (by decreasing heart disease risk, preventing hardening of blood vessels and reducing inflammation). So eat lots of raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes and watermelon to help your heart pump.
——紅色：紅色的食物（不包括那些人工染紅的食物），能夠使心臟運轉正常，如降低得心臟病的奉獻，預防動脈硬化以及減少心臟的炎症。所以多吃樹莓、草莓、西紅柿和西瓜等食物可以讓你的心臟更健康。— Green vegetables are Mom's favorites. They have been shown to help prevent cancer and other diseases, keep our blood healthy, and support the immune system that keeps us from getting sick. By keeping our blood healthy, green veggies give us energy, so eat lots of them if you want to keep up with your big brothers!
——綠色：綠色蔬菜是老媽的最愛。據證實，綠色蔬菜有助於預防癌症和其他疾病，保持血液健康以及保障免疫系統功能正常。通過使我們的血液保持健康，綠色蔬菜給我們帶來能量。如果你想要趕上你的哥哥們，那就多吃綠色蔬菜吧！There are obviously more scientifically accurate reasons to eat your colors, but I thought my boys did a pretty good job. Life is colorful right now. The farmer's markets are overflowing with yellow, orange, red, green and blue foods, so it couldn't be simpler to eat the rainbow. And as I pointed out to my boys, it turns out it is not premature to teach a 1-year-old about nutrition. They just rolled their eyes.
當然肯定有更多科學準確的理由來解釋爲什麼要食用不同顏色的食物，但是我覺得我的兩個兒子做得非常好。從現在起，生活中變得多彩。菜市場裏隨處可見黃色、橙色、紅色、綠色以及藍色的食物，所以吃得五彩繽紛十分容易。正如我跟兒子說的，事實證明1歲就教孩子營養學的知識並不早。當然，我的兩個兒子只是轉了轉眼珠。
