Raising kids with healthy eating habits is a challenge for many parents. Don't lose hope! Discover five fit and fabulous suggestions for raising healthy eaters.
Preparing nutritious meals with whole foods and fresh produce is time consuming compared to the drive-through window. Fortunately, there are ways to encourage good eating habits that don't take a lot of time.
Kids are usually hungry when they come home from school. Rather than serving up fatty, salty chips and cookies, offer fruit instead. This is a great strategy for growing kids, because fruit is very filling but also packed with nutrition. To minimize complaints, let kids pick their favourite fruits at the grocery store.
Kids like to have control over what they eat, so let them choose the foods. For example, let them pick any green vegetables from the freezer to go with dinner. Even if they pick peas four nights in a row, they'll still be making a healthy choice.
Spaghetti sauce can hide a variety of vegetables, giving your kids nutrition without opposition. Also try blending fruits together in a smoothie for dessert instead of resorting to sugar-laden, whipped cream-topped pie.
Most kids won't notice if you swap white bread for wheat as long as the sandwich filling remains the same. After a few weeks, make another swap to replace American cheese with a low-fat cheese. After a few more weeks, trade in ham for low-fat, low-sodium chicken or turkey. By the end of the year, your kids will have a healthier lunch and they won't have even noticed any change.
When it's easy to buy a bag of cookies or a whole cake at the bakery, it's also easy to eat more of it than a kid should at one sitting. If your kids are begging for these foods, have them make them at home. Often the extra work is a deterrent from overeating. Not only that, but you can choose the recipes, and in doing so, avoid unhealthy ingredients, such as high-fructose corn syrup.
Getting your kids to eat anything green can feel like an uphill battle. But there's hope for parents everywhere thanks to these clever tips.
