Welcome back for the final post in my mini-series. Since this is just a mini-series, I am going to keep it short and simple with my top ten tips for feeding healthy kids!
Ten Tips for Feeding Healthy Kids
- Teach your kids to cook and let them help! I mentioned this before but it truly is the foundation for healthy eating.
- Make dinner (or any other meal that everyone is home for) a priority as family time in your home. Eating together has an amazing impact on families nutritionally, emotionally, and socially.
- Offer variety, and try new foods.
- Do not force children to finish their meal. They are learning to listen to their body signals. If they are truly full, they should not have to finish everything. This can lead to many eating issues down the road.
- Snack on fruits and vegetables and do not allow snacking close to meal times.
- Do not make foods “for the kids.” Everyone should be eating the same foods at meals. Kids may take a few tries before liking a new food, but they are very capable to eating and liking “adult food.” Do not become discouraged when you offer something 5 times and they do not like it. It can take many more attempts. Just continue to offer new foods.
- Lead by example- eat healthy foods yourself. Kids are very good mirrors…
- Allow treats from time to time. If you restrict certain foods, there becomes a greater desire to indulge in them.
- Exercise! Playing outside is exercise- promote physical activity.
- Menu plan- when you take the time to plan your weekly menu, you will have healthy choices ready every night, instead of grabbing that frozen pizza at the last minute!
Thank you for reading, and watch for my May posts about the upcoming Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 14-20.
Cheers,
Rachael