How to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy
Posted on Mar 17, 2011 04:39:09 AM
Brian Jenkins, a member of the BrainTrack.com writing staff, contributes feature articles about many different college and career topics, including careers in preschool education.
These days, it’s a challenge to get kids to eat healthy. Let’s face it: kids would rather eat ice cream than broccoli (and who could blame them?) To make things worse, they’re constantly bombarded by television commercials promoting unhealthy foods. If you can somehow get your kids to eat healthy, they’ll have a much better chance of avoiding serious health issues down the road, such as heart disease and obesity. Here are some helpful tips you can use to make this dream a reality.
- Involving children in the preparation of healthy meals encourages healthy eating habits. Elizabeth Pivonka, Ph.D. heads the Produce for Better Health Foundation and said, "Involving children in cooking is an important step in getting kids interested in fruits and vegetables and getting them more excited about eating them." Kids can measure, mix, or gather ingredients while you’re cooking. Let the kids snap the green beans or break the florets from cauliflower or broccoli. Let them tear the lettuce for salads and sprinkle herbs onto the chicken or fish. If they help cook, they’ll be more likely to eat the food placed on the table. To make food preparation more kid friendly, you could purchase kid-sized tools and utensils.
- Pivonka also stated, "Taking a little extra time at the grocery store to interact with kids and single out fruits and vegetables as important is another way to persuade kids to give them another try." While shopping, let kids select a new fruit or vegetable to sample.
- Serve raw vegetables with a tasty dip such as mild salsa, low-fat ranch dressing, or guacamole. If children can dip their vegetables in something, they may try ones they usually refuse to eat.
- Cheryl Harris, MPH, PD, and the Food Dietician at Mom Made Foods, suggests that parents focus on colors, flavors, and textures. Instead of asking children if they like their broccoli, ask them if it’s crunchy, sweet, or sour. Ask your child what other foods are the same color. This crafty technique diverts kids from deciding whether a food is yummy or yucky.
- Kids are more likely to eat foods which other people enjoy eating. Thus, parents should eat and enjoy healthy meals and snacks!
- Some kids are more likely to eat vegetables if they are part of a tasty soup.
- Have a vegetable garden and let your kids help with the planting and picking. With your supervision, let the kids experiment in the garden. Being involved with the garden will likely inspire your kids to eat what they’ve grown.
- Offer your kids a wide variety of fruits and vegetables (both cooked and raw). Let them choose the items they want to eat.
- Prepare healthy snacks for your kids to eat after school. Sliced pieces of fruit, individual cups of unsweetened apple sauce, and whole grain crackers are good options.
- Be persistent – keep serving your kids healthy foods. Serve them a small portion and tell them they don’t have to eat all of it, but they should AT LEAST have one bite. Letting them stop after one bite makes it easier for them to try a new food item.
- Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD is a nutrition and health reporter and a contributing editor for Parents Magazine. She offers, "Eat most at-home meals together as a family at the table. Researchers have found that children who eat meals with their families (and the TV turned off!) get a much healthier diet overall."
If your kids are fussy when it comes to healthy foods, try some of these strategies!