Fun Ways to Get your Kids Eating Healthy
One of the most difficult things for any parent is finding a way to convince their small children to eat things that are healthy instead of all the snacks and high-fat, high-calorie foods they would much rather have. They need to appreciate buckwheat flour without it necessarily being in the form of pancakes smothered in syrup. Parents often wonder how they can possibly get their stubborn children to not just willingly eat, but eagerly eat foods that do them more good than harm. As it turns out, the trick lies in convincing children they really want to eat healthy foods, rather than that they want to satisfy you. Below are several things you can do to help reach this seemingly unreachable goal.
Don’t Be the Food Police
Don’t try to force your kids to eat foods that they absolutely hate right now. This will just generate resentment on their part and frustration on yours. However, do try to make any food options that are available to your children in your home exclusively healthy ones. That way, when they decide they want this or that off the shelf, you can feel good about it.
Experiment a Bit
Introduce healthy new foods throughout the week. So that your kids don’t object too strenuously, serve them with two other dishes that they actually like. This will let you slowly shuffle out the bad foods your kids are eating and cleverly replace them with much better options, such as fruit, salad or sugar-free desserts. Your kids may have to try these new taste sensations multiple times before they admit they like them.
Work on the Veggies
Getting children to like vegetables can require stealth and a talent for camouflage. For instance, add green vegetables to your fruit smoothies and they’ll never know the difference until you tell them. Use the same approach to incorporate vegetables into your children’s other favorites, such as by making mashed potatoes with cauliflower. Make healthy dips for sliced bell peppers or celery sticks. If you have very young children, form the vegetables into fun shapes that grab their interest. Let older children come in the kitchen and help make the vegetables. They’re much more likely to eat vegetable dishes once they’ve had to do the work of making them.
Let Kids Choose Snacks
Okay, not really. But what you can do is create a list of approved snacks you keep in the house that they can choose from. This involves the children in making their own selections and helps them better understand what healthy choices are. This way, they get of sense of responsibility for their own health and eating habits. And you don’t have to worry that what they’re eating as a snack is bad for them.
Let Them Make Mistakes
No matter how hard you try to ensure that your children eat healthy within your own home, other people are going to thwart your plans from time to time when your children are somewhere else. The best way to handle this situation is to help your children recognize that when they eat something that’s bad for them, it often makes them feel bad. If they get a stomach ache after downing a lot of candy, help them understand that that is the consequence of a bad eating choice.
Helping your children develop healthy eating habits is a significant challenge, but not an insurmountable one. On the one hand, with young children, you can use slightly deceptive practices – such as hiding the vegetables in something else – to get them eating right. On the other hand, with older children, you can set up strategies that help them make their own healthy food selections from the options you make available in your home. This can lead to them making similar healthy decisions when they are not at home.
