How to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy

image

Getting the Kids on Your Side

Getting kids to eat healthy can be a challenge. It seems everywhere you go high sugar and low nutrition foods are screaming out for their attention. So instead of arguing with the little ones, why not start today and show them how to make wise food selections for every meal of the day. This is a great way to get them on your side and teach them to follow healthy eating habits for a lifetime.

The best way to do this is the get them involved in meal planning, shopping for groceries and preparing the meals. While it may be difficult to bring them on every trip to the grocery store or prepare every meal, but most importantly letting them do something every now and then makes them part of the decision making process. They will be more interested in giving opinions and making healthy food choices if they know their input matters.

Check out these simple ideas to get your children involved with daily meals.

  • Ask your kids to pick out their favorite fruit or vegetable and you’ll pack in their school lunch.
  • Allow them to select one healthy side dish with each meal. It can sliced peaches, canned beans, fresh strawberries, it doesn’t matter. This gives them a better understanding of what a well-balanced meal should look like on the plate.
  • Encourage them to be involved with preparing the meal. It can be as simple at peeling the husks from the corn or counting the potatoes for mashed potatoes.
  • Ask your kids to select a simple recipe they would like to make for dinner. Making rice or spaghetti sauce are always winners.

One of the benefits of having them help to make the meal is they will eat it without complaint or hassle.

Include a Fruit or Vegetable with Every Meal

This little secret is an excellent way to help your little ones to eat more fruits or vegetables. For example, toss in some dried cherries into the rice side dish or add chopped mushrooms to the green beans.

Also, consider putting a 21-day restriction on purchasing any pop or soda every month. The reason is it takes 21 days to create a new habit. You’ll soon find if these high sugar drinks aren’t readily available in the house, they won’t be craved. During this time simply switch from carbonated beverages water or 100% natural and freshly squeezed fruit or vegetable juices your children will not crave pop or soda. Drinking a glass of juice is a great way to add 1 – 2 servings of fruit or vegetables to their diet daily.Also, be a good example to your kids. This doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorite indulgence. For example, snack on an apple while taking your children to school or pack a light snack of freshly cut carrots when you pick them up from school.

You can also make a grab bag surprise. This is a combination of quick-n-easy finger foods. All you need to do is toss in some grapes, sliced apples and dried blueberries into a bag and add this to your kids lunch.

Go Sweet

Most children’s taste buds are very different than an adult’s palette. The bitter flavor of spinach or Brussels sprouts may taste good to you, but for most kids these foods aren’t very tasty.

Keeping this mind, you may want to gravitate toward the sweeter foods when your children are younger and gradually add these bitter foods (brussel sprouts, spinach, etc.) as they get older.  Each child has a different palette and their food choices will change as they get older.

Check out this list of some of the sweeter foods to consider to add as a side dish and for a healthy snack between meals:

  • Strawberries
  • Sweet dark or black cherries (deep purplish hue)
  • Sweet peas
  • Corn – (creamed corn, canned corn)
  • Honeycrisp apples
  • Bananas (sliced into pieces)

Quick-n-Easy, Healthy Food Ideas

Here are some ideas to inject some fun into food. Kids love to be “wild and crazy” to try that natural interested into food ideas.

Wild and Crazy Food Ideas

  • If you brown bag the kid’s lunch, draw something on the outside of the bag. It can be as simple as a stick figure, but draw something. Draw smiley faces, etc.
  • Place a bowl of fresh fruits in the middle of the table and ask them to name all of the fruits in the bowl. Once they name they ask them to create a recipe with each fruit. This will help them to understand that fruit can be used in a number of different and great tasting ways.
  • Place a fresh fruit bowl including oranges, apples, and banana in the middle of the table. Then ask your child to make shapes with them.

 Healthy Food Ideas

  • Chop up different fruits and vegetables into small pieces so they can try them without getting overwhelmed.
  • Pack dried fruit in their lunch (dried apples, dried cherries, dried blueberries, dried strawberries, etc.)
  • Make Fruit smoothies for breakfast (Mix together ice, bananas, blueberries and blend them together)
  • Add some salsa to morning eggs or for an afternoon snack
  • Make a fruit salad (Mixing together some grapes, watermelon, apples, etc.)
  • Toss in some fresh or dried fruit to your child’s morning cereal
  • Enjoy some chopped carrots with vegetable or chip dip
  • Add some fresh pineapple to homemade pizza
  • Try fruit salsa (red raspberry salsa, cherry salsa or peach salsa) with tortilla
  • Enjoy some fruit BBQ sauce (apple BBQ or red raspberry BBQ) on grilled chicken or pork chops.
  • Try some Merlot wine steak sauce on a steak – adults only

Simple Ideas for Enjoying Fruit with Every Meal of the Day

 

  • Make Fruit smoothies for breakfast (Mix together ice, bananas, blueberries and blend them together)
  • Add some salsa to morning eggs or for an afternoon snack
  • Make a fruit salad (Mixing together some grapes, watermelon, apples, etc.)
  • Toss in some fresh or dried fruit to your child’s morning cereal
  • Enjoy some chopped carrots with vegetable or chip dip
  • Add some fresh pineapple to homemade pizza
  • Try fruit salsa (red raspberry salsa, cherry salsa or peach salsa) with tortilla
  • Enjoy some fruit BBQ sauce (apple BBQ or red raspberry BBQ) on grilled chicken or pork chops.
  • Try some Merlot wine steak sauce on a steak – adults only

Teaching children healthy eating habits is something that will last a lifetime. Once they understand how to make healthy food choices, they will enjoy more energy, a healthy mind and powerful body and be able to pass your wisdom to their children, too.

Get the full report on the natural health benefits of fruit here: http://www.superfruithandbook.com

Visit Orchard of Health for Natural Remedies and Healthy Recipes

Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas is an independent writer and writes about the natural health benefits of food, alternative medicine and natural home remedies. She in the process of developing her website sharing the wonders of Mother Nature. Some of her favorite sites include www.TraverseBayFarms.com and www.OrchardofHealth.com