As a parent, trying to get your child to eat certain foods can be frustrating. Younger palettes often don’t appreciate new colors, flavors and textures in food. However, teaching children good eating habits early in life can help them make healthy choices throughout their lives!
Every child is different. Some are satisfied with three meals a day filled with fruits and vegetables, while others eat many small portions and are extremely picky. There is no ‘right’ way of how your baby should eat, as long as he is gaining weight and developing at appropriate rates. However, it is important to continue to offer your child a variety of food, even if they are extremely picky about what they put in their mouth. This way, even if your child doesn’t get a balanced diet on certain days, their weekly diet will be rounded off. Just remember that as long as healthy choices are being modeled by the parent and constantly (not pressured) on the child, eventually the child will try them too!
Here are some tips to ensure your child gets adequate nutrition:
Feed your child a variety of fruits and vegetables. Include food that is of different colors for both nutritional and aesthetic purposes.
Offer a variety of fruits and vegetables from an early age. This helps the child to form healthy eating habits early
– Ideal healthy eating habits. Babies often want to eat what the parents are eating, so make sure it’s nutritious!
– Add fruits and vegetables to your child’s favorite dishes. For example, add cucumber and sprouts to a pasta sauce or sandwich rich in chopped vegetables.
A big step in healthy eating is reducing the amount of processed food in your child’s diet. Cookies, candies and other packaged snacks contain large amounts of sugar and artificial flavors or colors. Fruit drinks are also in the same unhealthy category! Processed foods pack a high-calorie punch without much nutritional value. Not only this, but all the chemicals present in these foods can cause hyperactivity, restlessness, short attention span and obesity in children. Parents often notice that once processed foods are removed from their child’s diet, there is a significant improvement in overall physical and mental health.
Here are some tips for eating whole foods:
Avoid processed/sweetened snacks: chips, cookies, donuts, candy, etc.
– 100% fruit juice instead of sweetened beverages (soda, iced tea, fruit drinks, etc.).
Baked potatoes instead of french fries
– Use whole wheat instead of white bread/pasta/flour
Oatmeal instead of sugary breakfast cereals
Leftover slices of chicken or turkey meat instead of processed cold cuts
Breaded chicken breast strips instead of store-bought chicken nuggets
Pop air popcorn instead of chips
– Popsicles made from 100% pure fruit juice
Fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks: apples, bananas, berries, grapes, celery, carrots, cauliflower, etc.
Source by Eileen Suwanda
