Meal preparation facts for kids
Meal preparation, often called meal prep, is when you plan and get your food ready for meals. It's like getting your ingredients and dishes organized before you eat them.
Getting Ready Ahead of Time
Sometimes, meal prep means making your food in advance. You might cook meals for a few days or even a week. People do this for many reasons! For example, some people want to lose weight, build muscle, or just live a healthy lifestyle. Preparing meals ahead of time helps you control how much food you eat.
These meals are usually fully cooked. You can store them in small containers, like Tupperware. Sometimes, people label and date their containers to stay organized.
Why Meal Prep is Great
Saving Money
When you prepare your meals at home, you don't need to buy food from restaurants or cafes as often. Eating out can be very expensive! Restaurants often charge much more than the food costs them.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people started cooking at home more. This helped them save money. In fact, from 2019 to 2020, people spent a lot less on eating out. At the same time, they spent more on groceries to cook at home. This change helped the average person save about $1151 by eating out less.
Eating Healthy
Meal prep helps you eat fresh and healthy ingredients. This is much better for you than eating out often or eating lots of processed foods.
Studies show that people who cook at home more often are less likely to get serious health problems like type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, people who eat out a lot or eat many processed foods might have a higher risk of conditions like high blood pressure or other illnesses.
When you cook at home, you can control what goes into your food. Meals prepared outside the home often have more sugar and fat. Home-cooked meals usually have more important nutrients like iron, calcium, and vitamin C.
