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10 Ways to Encourage Healthy Eating Habits in Kids

Teachingyourchildhealthyeatinghabitsandbymodellingtheexpectedbehaviouryoucanhelptoaidtheoverallgrowthanddevelopmentofyourchild.Readontolearnhowyoucanteachyourchildimbibehealthyeatinghabits.Childhoodisthebesttimetoattainhealthyeatinghabitsbecauseitlastsforlifetime.Thiswillhelpyourchildmaintainahealthyweightandhaveenoughenergyforschoolandplay.Eatinghabitshavetobelearnedandthisstartsrightfromchildhoodandchildrenlearnitfromthetypeoffoodcookedandservedathome.Today,mostoftheparentsareworkingandhavelessornotimetocookdinnerfromscratch.Mostofyougrabdinnerfromfastfoodrestaurantsorgetsomefrozendinnerintotheoven.However,keepinginmindfewpointsyoucanbringvariety,moderationandbalancesothatyouhelpyourchildhavelongtermnutritionalhealth.InthisarticleKeepThingsPositiveBeaRoleModelTakeYourKidsShoppingwithYouMakeMealTimeSpecialBeFlexibleForgetMealRoutinesProvideHealthySnacksMakeNewFoodItemsDoNotUseFoodasBribesorRewardsDoNotWorryaLot10TipstoTeachHealthyEatingHabitstoKidsFollowthese10tipstothe‘T’toencouragehealthyeatinghabitsinyourkids.1.KeepThingsPositiveKidsdonotliketohearwhattheyshouldnotdo.So,whenyoupresenthealthyfooditemsyouneedtobepositiveinyourmanner.Praiseforajobthatiswelldoneandappreciatewhenheoptsforhealthyfood.2.BeaRoleModelThisisoneofthemostimportantthingsbecausechildrenlearnfromwhattheywatchtheirparentsdoing.So,educateyourselfandpracticewhatyoupreachfirst.3.TakeYourKidsShoppingwithYouTakingyourkidsshoppingwithyouwillhelpthemstayconnectedwithgoodfoodsandhewillbeabletomaketherightchoicealways.Makesurethatyouarenotinahurryandletthemtaketheirtimetoobserveanddecide.4.MakeMealTimeSpecialYoucandolotofthingstomakeeverymealaspecialone.Involveyourkidsinpreparingandservingfoodandenjoythefoodtogether.Makeyourkidsunderstandthatmealtimesarespecialfamilytimesanditisgoodtosittogetherandeat.5.BeFlexibleJustkeepinmindthateverythingdoneinmoderationisgoodandacceptable.Donotforceyourkidstoeatfoodjustbecauseitishealthy.Trytomakeittastyandalsomakeyourkidhavesomefoodofhistasteinmoderationwhileswitchingtowardshealthyeatinghabits.6.ForgetMealRoutinesWhenyouaretryingtoenforcehealthyeatinghabitsinyourchild’sdailylife,lethimhavefoodwhenhewants.Hewillenjoyeatingmuchmorethanwhenheisforcedtoeat.7.ProvideHealthySnacksSnackinginbetweenmealsisnotabadthingprovidedyourkidsdonotovereatduringlunchordinnertime.Freshfruits,dryfruits,juices,saladandmanyotherthingscanbeusedassnacks.8.MakeNewFoodItemsResearchesshowthatkidsneedanaverageoftenandtwelveattemptstolikefood.So,youshouldnotgiveupifyourchilddoesnotlikeanythingforthefirsttime.9.DoNotUseFoodasBribesorRewardsManyparentswillagreedoingthisevenmorethanonetime.Well,thereareotherwaystoencourageyourchilddevelopsomethingorcompletehiswork.Thisdoesnotmeanthatyoucannotgiveyourchildanice-creamtreatafterwinningasoccergame.10.DoNotWorryaLotKidsfigureoutthatyouareworriedandwillstartfearingmealtime.Lettheentirefamilyenjoyfood.Healthyeatinghabitstaughtataveryyoungagecanhelpyourchildhavealifetimeofgoodhealth.Itisoktohavejunkfoodoccasionallybutnevermakeitahabitandnevercompromiseoneatinghealthyregularly.Yourkidswillfollowyouractionsmorethanyouradvices.Sodoyourbesttobeagoodrolemodel.Howtoencouragehealthyeatinghabitsinkids?Isitalrighttogivejunkfoodtokidsonceinaweek?Whicharethehealthysnackoptionsforkids?Discusshere.

Childhood is the best time to attain healthy eating habits because it lasts for lifetime. This will help your child maintain a healthy weight and have enough energy for school and play. Eating habits have to be learned and this starts right from childhood and children learn it from the type of food cooked and served at home.

Today, most of the parents are working and have less or no time to cook dinner from scratch. Most of you grab dinner from fast food restaurants or get some frozen dinner into the oven. However, keeping in mind few points you can bring variety, moderation and balance so that you help your child have long term nutritional health.

10 Tips to Teach Healthy Eating Habits to Kids

Follow these 10 tips to the ‘T’ to encourage healthy eating habits in your kids.

1. Keep Things Positive

Kids do not like to hear what they should not do. So, when you present healthy food items you need to be positive in your manner. Praise for a job that is well done and appreciate when he opts for healthy food.

2. Be a Role Model

This is one of the most important things because children learn from what they watch their parents doing. So, educate yourself and practice what you preach first.

3. Take Your Kids Shopping with You

Taking your kids shopping with you will help them stay connected with good foods and he will be able to make the right choice always. Make sure that you are not in a hurry and let them take their time to observe and decide.

4. Make Meal Time Special

You can do lot of things to make every meal a special one. Involve your kids in preparing and serving food and enjoy the food together. Make your kids understand that meal times are special family times and it is good to sit together and eat.

5. Be Flexible

Just keep in mind that everything done in moderation is good and acceptable. Do not force your kids to eat food just because it is healthy. Try to make it tasty and also make your kid have some food of his taste in moderation while switching towards healthy eating habits.

6. Forget Meal Routines

When you are trying to enforce healthy eating habits in your child’s daily life, let him have food when he wants. He will enjoy eating much more than when he is forced to eat.

7. Provide Healthy Snacks

Snacking in between meals is not a bad thing provided your kids do not overeat during lunch or dinner time. Fresh fruits, dry fruits, juices, salad and many other things can be used as snacks.

8. Make New Food Items

Researches show that kids need an average of ten and twelve attempts to like food. So, you should not give up if your child does not like anything for the first time.

9. Do Not Use Food as Bribes or Rewards

Many parents will agree doing this even more than one time. Well, there are other ways to encourage your child develop something or complete his work. This does not mean that you cannot give your child an ice-cream treat after winning a soccer game.

10. Do Not Worry a Lot

Kids figure out that you are worried and will start fearing meal time. Let the entire family enjoy food.

Healthy eating habits taught at a very young age can help your child have a lifetime of good health. It is ok to have junk food occasionally but never make it a habit and never compromise on eating healthy regularly. Your kids will follow your actions more than your advices. So do your best to be a good role model.

How to encourage healthy eating habits in kids? Is it alright to give junk food to kids once in a week? Which are the healthy snack options for kids? Discuss here.

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6 Comments

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Reeha.9 years ago

Thanks for the ideas Pushpa and Tiya, I will try these ideas for encouraging my child to eat spinach and fruits. Encouraging healthy eating at an early age is very important.

Tiya.9 years ago

My child loves yogurt, so I mix fruits with yogurt to encourage her to eat fruits. She love strawberry yogurt very much.

Pushpa.9 years ago

My child hates to eat spinach but I encourage him to eat by cooking it with Tuvar dal or moon dal and garlic. It adds taste to spinach.