How To Help Your Child Eat More Healthily
Wherever you look, you can find fast food and sugary snacks, and children will see this too – and be tempted by it. That’s why it’s so important to help your child eat more healthily so they end up seeing these things as occasional treats, not everyday food. The problem is, as much as you might want to make sure your child is a healthy eater who develops good habits in later life, it can be hard to know where to start. If you want to know more, keep reading for some handy hints.
Lead By Example
One of the best things you can do when it comes to teaching your child how to eat more healthily – and to do anything else in life, come to that – is to lead by example. In other words, make sure your own eating habits are healthy ones, and make sure your children see your healthy habits too.
Always have vegetables on your plate, and don’t order a takeaway apart from on special occasions. When it comes to snacking, have fruit, not cookies or chocolate, and try new food, even if you’re not sure about it. Not only will your child see you eating well and be more likely to do as you do, but you’ll be helping your own health (and potentially your bank account) as well.
Create A Colourful Plate
If you’re not sure what food is healthy and what should be avoided (some of this is obvious, but some are definitely harder to work out, so don’t be shamed if that’s the case for you), then one good idea is to create a colourful plate. This means making sure that you’re not just serving up beige or brown food, but instead, there are bright colors like red peppers, green broccoli, purple cabbage, yellow corn, and so on.
If you make it a rule to have a certain number of colors on a plate for each meal, you’ll soon start to get into the habit of serving healthy food. Plus, it’s an easy rule you can teach your little ones from a young age, and you can even make it into a game that potentially helps them learn their colors too.
Involve Your Child
When you allow your child to be involved in meal planning and preparation, they’ll learn a lot more about what they’re eating, and that can help them differentiate the good food from the bad ingredients they should stay away from, or only eat in moderation.
Give your child some choices – all healthy ones – and they’ll become a lot more interested in what they’re eating. You can even extend this to snacks and pre-packed lunches; add some Annie’s organic snacks to your selection (or have the children add them when they’re picking their food), and you’ll instantly have healthy snacks in the house.
Make Healthy Foods Fun
Another great way to help your child eat more healthily is to make healthy foods more fun. You can use cookie cutters to make fruits and vegetables into interesting shapes or create a smiley face on a plate using healthy ingredients.
The more fun and visually appealing the food is, the more your child will want to eat it, and as long as it’s healthy too, that’s a great thing.
