TV commercials and peer pressure for junk foodstuffs may make getting your kids to eat healthy food an uphill. Factor in your strenuous schedule and understand why most kids’ diets are usually built around takeout food and convenience.
However, switching to healthy diets will definitely have a profound impact on the health of your kids, allowing them to stabilize their moods, avoid health issues, sharpen their minds, and maintain a good and healthy weight.
So whether you are a frazzled parent, childcare provider, or preschool teacher, you will require the following pediatric nutrition guidelines up your sleeve so as to make your kids eat healthy food:
1. Plan a Menu in Advance
If you planning a menu for one week becomes challenging, consider starting with a three or four day menu. A great dinner doesn’t need to be fancy.
But it must be balanced by including rice/pasta, whole-grain bread, vegetables/fruits, and protein sources, such as beans, cheese, or lean meat.
You can also make simple chili or entrée soups ahead of time and freeze them. During dinnertime, you will just heat them and add a bowl of sliced apples to round out your meals.
2. Control the Supply Line
As a parent, you should decide which foodstuffs to buy and serve them. Although your kids can pester you for less nutritious foodstuffs, you need to be in charge and decide the kind of foods to stock in your home.
If their favorite snacks are not that nutritious, you might still stock them once in a while to avoid making them feel deprived.
3. Get Your Kids Involved
Consider asking your children to give you a hand when shopping for groceries. Teach your kids how to read food labels to ensure they always know if the food they are about to take over the counter is nutritious or not.
Another great way to involve your kids is to plant vegetables and fruits in a garden if you have one. Growing some of these will teach your kids valuable lessons.
4. Consider Leading the Way
Kids like imitating and prefer doing what they see instead of what they are asked or told. Motivating your kids to eat healthy foodstuffs is a perfect chance to act as their role model.
If you really want your children to eat fruits and vegetables, you have to do that too. Preparing meals at home instead of going outside to eat is a good behavior to adopt as you will have control over what you eat.
Plus, home-cooked dishes are healthier. That is because they have less added sugar than those in takeaways and frozen food. Eating dinner together as one family can as well enable you to lead by example.
The Bottom Line!
These days, people are becoming more aware of their shortcomings when it comes to the foodstuffs they feed their kids – which is a good thing.
So by teaching your kids healthy eating routines as well as modeling their behaviors yourself, you will be able to help your kids maintain normal growth and, most importantly, their healthy weight.