How to Get Your Child to Eat Healthy Foods

If you have children, you know how difficult it can be to get them to eat healthy foods. As they are bombarded with tv and radio commercials that seduce them into craving greasy hamburgers and fatty milkshakes too high in transfats and corn syrup, every parent's job is cut out for him. Children tend to model after parents and the key is to set an example when your children are still young and likely to mimic your healthy eating habits.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole Grain Cereals, Breads

How to Get Your Child to Eat Healthy Foods

1. Start teaching your children to eat healthy foods from birth. Children will not develop a taste for enhanced foods if you make natural foods a staple. If a fruit juice is too strong, dilute it will water. Add juice to cereal. Read labels. Make sure that there are no preservatives or additives. If you have the time and inclination, make your own. A blender or food processor is all you need.

2. Play games with older children, using their food. Tell your children they can pick two colors of fruits or vegetables on their plate at each meal. One child can pick the color and the other can pick a vegetable or fruit that corresponded to the colors chosen. The deal with that game is that, whatever is chosen has to at least be tasted. Make a list of foods they like and a list of foods they need to learn to like. If they found a fruit or vegetable that they didn't like, we would try and find ways to prepare it so they would like it.

3. Let them help you prepare the meal. Even if it's only soup and sandwiches, they still get to take part in learning about the food they are eating. Talk to them as you prepare the meal. Let them know why you do certain things, like making sure an egg is completely cooked to eliminate any chance of food poisoning.Show them safe ways to peel fruits and vegetables.

4. Teach them about the foods they are eating as they are learning their colors. Orange is for carrots. For example, carrots are full of vitamin A and help us with our eyesight. Green foods such as lettuce, spinach and green beans are full of chlorophyll and help us digest our food. Take the time to teach them about the nutritional value of what they are eating.

5. Make sure that you eat healthily too. Dried apples or low-fat, low-sugar granola, and trail mix are healthy alternatives to potato chips and fast food. Visit your local health food store as a family and let each person buy something for the family to try.

6. Teach older children about different kinds of cooking techniques. Explain to your young chefs the importance of using blended or canola oil, instead of straight corn oil. Show them what techniques are healthiest when cooking meat. Teach them how to use an oven, so they can bake or broil their meats instead of frying them--which produces unhealthy transfats.

7. Educate them about how sugar is not the only sweetener on the market and stress the fact that artificial sweeteners are to be avoided at all costs. Experiment with honey, stevia, maple syrup, rice syrup and other natural sweeteners. Remind them to not bake or cook honey as it makes it indigestible.

Tips & Warnings

• Introduce foods that are age-appropriate as your child grows.

• Incorporate color and texture into your menus.

• Allow your children to help you shop as well as cook.

• Never leave a child unattended in the kitchen.

Resources