Unhealthy foods account for over 30 percent of the total calories that kids under the age of 18 are eating. It’s important to note that your kids aren’t born with a craving for junk food and a dislike for fruits and veggies. This conditioning occurs gradually as your kids are left to make poor food choices. However, you can still determine what your kids eat and even reprogram their cravings so that they can opt for healthier foods.
Include them in meal preparations
Kids are more likely to gain interest in meals and the healthy foods on their plates when they feel they are a part of the food preparation process. One study found that children who got involved in food preparation ate 76.1% more salad than children who had no involvement. You can start with taking your children to the market with a premade shopping list and help them in picking out healthy foods. Once you’re back home, let your kids thumb through the cookbook recipes and have them pick what they like. You can then take the opportunity to point out healthy facts about certain recipes as they make their decisions. Once it’s time to cook, invite them to cook alongside you and sample together the different tastes of the food being prepared.
Have more meals at home
As of today, nearly 1 out of 4 children and teenagers in developed countries are overweight or obese. Apart from putting kids at risk of developing health problems such as diabetes and asthma, childhood obesity can also cause an emotional toll on your kids. Easy access to junk food and high-calorie fast food especially when the kids go out can greatly increase the chances of your kid having weight problems as they grow older. That is why eating a family meal made freshly at home is highly recommended because it allows you to educate your kids about healthy foods. Eating together lets your kids see you as a role model since when you eat healthy foods and keep your portions in check, they are bound to follow your example. Also, having regular family meals can be very comforting for kids and their appetites can even increase.
Make it fun
Children can have fun while learning about nutrition, whether it’s about the types of healthy foods or where the foods come from. There are many ways to teach kids about healthy foods besides cooking and eating. For instance, there are tons of great children’s titles out there about healthy eating. You can read them story books such as Gregory, the Terrible Eater or I Will Never Not Eat a Tomato and your kids will definitely be interested in learning about the type of food they eat. Healthy eating games can also be used to educate kids on the right nutrition. For example, you can try thinking about foods in terms of “Go, Slow or Whoa!” If you call out a name of a food, have the kids go fast if it’s a healthy choice; go slow if it’s not so healthy; and halt if it’s an unhealthy food. This and many other games can really make a huge impact in educating your kids about nutritious food.
As children continue to grow, they naturally develop a preference for the foods they like. So when you encourage your kids to take up healthy eating habits as early as possible, they will easily adopt a taste for healthy foods.
Credits:
Article submitted by Karoline Gore.
Photos by Pixabay from Pexels, Patrick Fore on Unsplash
Updated: March 10, 2020