Read more about Marguerite Patten OBE and try out some of her fabulous recipes	60 years on we’re sticking to the same golden rules! Marguerite Patten, OBE, who has been advising mums about feeding their kids since the Second World War, when she was a Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Food, says it’s great to see that mums are sticking to the same golden rules as their mothers before them – though against very different challenges. Marguerite’s golden rules for healthy eating for children are: Family meals provide much more than the opportunity to fill hungry tummies 1 – they provide the chance for families to talk and share feelings, an opportunity for parents to teach children about manners and social etiquette “I told mothers 60 years ago that fish is a brain food. My advice stays the same – I’m delighted to see now that the Government is saying the same thing 2 and science has caught up.” As the new FSA 3 survey found nearly half the population (46%) claimed to rarely or never eat oily fish at all. This strengthens the case for supplementing children’s diets with an omega-3 fish oil supplement but mums know it has to be tasty like Haliborange Omega-3 for Kids to make sure they get required levels of omega-3, which can help support brain function and therefore learning ability. Says Marguerite; “It’s a huge improvement from the spoonfuls of fish oil that children were given by the Ministry of Food some 60 years ago.” And congratulate them on what they do well. As a parent you can really help by boosting confidence so remind them of past achievements. There’s no better time than teatime to do this when everyone is together Don’t wait till Mothers’ Day. It’s a tough job. And don’t forget to pat Dad on the back too! Says Fiona Hunter (BSc Hons Nutrition), “Marguerite’s golden rules still hold true today even though lifestyles have changed so much. Today’s mums face very different problems – too much food rather than not enough, and too many distractions rather than too few. “Children’s diets are improving in some ways – although like adults most children do not eat enough oily fish, which is rich in omega-3 essential long chain fatty acids, which are one of the building blocks of the brain. Ensuring your child has enough omega-3 every day as part of a health diet maintains healthy brain function and levels of concentration.” To share your own tips on healthy eating for all the family why not visit www.mumsnet.com 1 Family meal patterns: associations with sociodemographic characteristics and improved dietary intake among adolescents. Neumark-Sztainer D, Hannan PJ, Story M, Croll J, Perry C J. Am Diet Assoc. 2003 Mar;103(3):317-22 2 For FSA guide to oily fish please see: http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/jun/fishportionslifestagechart 3 The latest Food Standards Agency survey, Consumer Attitudes to Food Safety, published February 2007 questioned some 3513 respondents about their attitudes to food. For further information see http://www.food.gov.uk/