There’s never been a greater need to teach healthy eating habits to our children. Indeed, 20% of all children and adolescents in the US are obese nowadays.
That’s 1 in 5 young people who are seriously overweight and at high risk of a host of debilitating health conditions. If nothing changes, then they could suffer everything from diabetes and heart disease to high blood pressure and strokes.
Unfortunately, getting some kids to eat a healthy diet is easier. They can be fussy, stubborn, and dead-set on eating nothing but sugar!
There’s good news though.
With the right approach, you can break those bad habits and have them eat a healthier, more balanced diet in no time. Want to learn how it’s done? Keep perusing to find a determination of tips and tricks for getting kids to eat a healthier diet.
Get Started ASAP
The earlier you can start your children on a healthy diet, the better.
Bring them up eating fruit and vegetables! That way, a healthy diet will be normalized by the time they start thinking for themselves. They’ll appreciate and enjoy it all, eating everything with no complaints or qualms.
Likewise, you should limit the amount of sugar they get from an early age too. If your kids are brought up eating lots of sugary treats, then they won’t be happy when they’re no longer allowed. By comparison, children who don’t eat them growing up are less likely to care.
Be a Good Role Model
It helps to practice what you preach when it comes to teaching kids healthy eating habits. Be a role model! If you want them to eat more vegetables, then you should be doing the same.
If it’s one rule for you and another for them, then they’re more likely to rebel.
They’ll wonder why you get the delicious, stuffed crust pizza and fries while they’re stuck with the plate of steamed vegetables! Naturally, they’ll kick up a fuss and question your authority.
Use this as a good excuse to improve your own eating habits too. Appear to your kids what it implies to eat healthily. They’ll see your diet and, with any luck, be more willing to embrace something similar.
Stock Your Cupboards With Healthy Snacks
You don’t need a healthcare qualification from UMA to know that you can’t eat what you don’t have! Nevertheless, this particular healthy eating tip can bring about a major change for everyone in the house- kids and adults alike.
By leaving the high-fat, sugar-filled snacks at the supermarket, you’ve got no choice but to eat something else instead. Our advice?
Fill your fridge and cupboards with healthy snacking options.
You can expect some resistance at the beginning. But as soon as your kids realize the delights of healthy yogurt, trail mixes, chopped carrot sticks with hummus, and peanut butter-covered rice crackers, they’re sure to stop complaining.
Don’t Forget the Drinks, Healthy Eating Habits
When many people think about ‘diet’, they think about food alone. However, it’s just as important to consider what you drink as well.
The same goes when teaching your kids about healthy dietary practices. It’s all well and good to encourage them to eat a healthy, well-balanced meal that’s full of key nutrients. But all that good work gets jeopardized if they wash it down with masses of sugar-filled soda.
Water, milk, and small quantities of 100% juice are the best beverages for your cause. Anything else has often got too much sugar, too many calories, and a host of ingredients that most of us can’t even pronounce!
Cook Together
One of the best ways to get young kids to eat better food is to encourage them to cook it.
Try to involve them in the kitchen whenever you can. Give them an apron to wear and find healthy, straightforward recipes that you can cook together. The reality they were included in the process (coupled with the fun they’re sure to have) should make your kids far happier to eat any healthy meals you create!
An added benefit of these ‘cooking classes is that they’ll teach them about healthy food too (not to mention safe culinary practices). They’ll grow up with a better understanding of a) how to maintain a healthy diet and b) how to cook it for themselves.
Improve Your Skills in the Kitchen Healthy Eating Habits
You might be a dab hand at cooking already. But not everybody knows their way around a kitchen!
Alas, lacking in the culinary department never helps in the bid to improve kids’ eating habits. Getting kids to eat healthy food is far easier when it’s delicious. But that’s in no way going to appear if your culinary abilities leave something to be desired.
Thankfully, you don’t have to have a Michelin star to get children to eat what’s on their plate!
All you need is some basic skills and a few simple recipes to call upon. Work out which flavors go together, herbs and spices to use, and master a small selection of easy, healthy meals. Your children will chow down everything you put in front of them if they know it tastes good.
Start Teaching Healthy Eating Habits to Kids
The rate of child and adolescent obesity in America is frightening. Tens of millions of young people are dangerously overweight these days and face a wide array of debilitating health conditions as a result. Clearly, something has to change.
That’s one primary reason why teaching healthy eating habits to kids is so important.
After all, eating a better diet that’s packed with all the nutrients we need is one of the most effective ways to improve overall wellbeing. Unfortunately, getting children to eat healthy foods can be easier said than done!
Hopefully, though, this post has provided a selection of child nutrition tips that’ll help in the endeavor. Keep them in mind and your child should be eating a healthier diet in no time.