How to make kids eat healthy

Keep track of new products in the market and ensure they are healthy choices.

The hustles of today’s life have made it difficult for parents to stay with their kids most of the time. This makes it even harder to monitor what their children feed on and the obligation has been left to nannies and other caregivers such as the school cateress. It is therefore important for parents to learn the basic skills of teaching their children to eat healthy and help them embrace the habit as early as possible.

Eating healthy improves the health of a person and children need to be fed healthy stuff from day one to improve their immunity and performance at school. For example, several researches show that children who take a good breakfast perform well in school and do not have behaviour problems.

Teaching your children early enough to eat healthy makes it easier for them to adopt good eating habits that will last a lifetime.

Be a role model
Just as it is difficult for a smoking parent to convince their children to avoid smoking, so it is for parents who are not cautious of what they eat. Children learn from observation and therefore what their parent eats most attracts them as well. Having good knowledge about your family nutrition is also an essential part as a parent and therefore teaching your children about healthy eating will not be a problem. Read as many family nutrition articles as possible to add to your knowledge and understanding of what is best for them.

Talk to several mums on meal selection and find out what they feed their children, especially if you are a young mother. Let your children understand why they are not supposed to eat certain foods more than others. For example, tell them that unhealthy eating habits could harm them while healthy foods make them strong.

Keep track of new product in the market and ensure they are healthy choices.

Have regular family meals
Having a family meal together with your kids ensures that you watch what goes into your little ones’ stomachs. Always make mealtimes a fun experience. You can make funny unusual shapes using the foods to make it more fun while you turn on some music and have a good time with them.

This is also the best time to talk to them about eating healthy and the importance of different types of nutrients found in different kinds of foods. When meal times are made fun and exciting, the conversation between the child and the parent is also enhanced and a strong bond is created between the two The child will be free talk about what happened in school or at home in the absence of the parent.

Do not force your kids to eat when full; let them eat when they are comfortable and in need of the food. Forcing kids to eat could make them develop a negative behaviour, including a dislike for some foods Some parents yell at children who do not eat their food and this causes more harm than good. This might affect the bond between the two and the kids may always have fear when they learn its meal time.

Limit beverages, especially for a picky child since they tend to fill up with these liquids instead of food. Avoid food battles during meal time; kids will battle at the table because of food in most instances. As a parent, learn how to control this battle by making meal times more fun and watching them when they eat.

Shop with your kids
Involving your kids in shopping is a good learning experience for them. When shopping, they get to know how to read food labels kids who have a certain food allergy for example should be shown how to look for the ingredients in the food labels.

Let them choose foods at the grocery store and advice them accordingly why each foodstuff is required Teach your children early enough on the importance of shopping early other than buying stuff at the last minute. Let them understand why you pick some food and leave others at the shelf.

When picking snacks, choose healthy ones like nuts instead of those that have no calories.

Involve them in food preparation
Kids like trying new things and cooking is a part of it. Having them wash fruits and vegetables may help them understand the importance of hygiene When they do the washing, chopping and preparing food, they obtain a sense of accomplishment with their food and will be more likely to eat what they helped prepare.

Supplements on prescription
The tendency of mothers to give food supplements without prescription from a doctor or a dietitian in the name of improving the health of the child should be avoided. Let them get multiple vitamins from variety of available foods in the market.

Have a wonderful mealtime with your family!

END: BL 43/22-23