Healthy Eating for Kids

Good nutrition is the basis of lifelong health, beginning in infancy. Healthy eating can stabilize children's energy, sharpen their minds, and even out their moods. But it is common practice for kids to eat food in front of watching television and munching their favourite junk foods. Health experts always discourage this practice as this results in a lot of eating or not concentrating on food.

However, there are simple steps that parents can take to instil healthy eating habits in their kids without turning mealtimes into a battle zone. By encouraging healthy eating habits now, you can significantly impact your children's lifelong relationship with food and give them the best opportunity to grow into healthy, confident adults.

AIM TO DEVELOP HEALTHY EATING HABITS AMONG KIDS:

Children naturally prefer the foods they enjoy the most, so the challenge is to make healthy choices appealing. Kids imitate their elders a lot, so be sure you won't ask them to eat veggies while you are munching on chips!! No matter how good your intentions are, trying to convince your eight-year-old that an apple is as sweet a treat as a cookie is not a recipe for success. However, you can ensure that your children's diet is as nutritious and wholesome as possible, even while allowing for some of their favourite treats.

USEFUL TIPS:

Focus on making healthy snacks instead of providing them foods with "empty calories". Keep plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grain snacks and healthy beverages like milk, fruit juice or water in places easily accessible for kids instead of chips, sodas, or chocolates.

Encourage your kids to eat at home, and you also try to make them. Restaurants' favourite foods are at home, so they develop a habit of having home-prepared food.

Kids should know that dinner is served at approximately the same time every night and that the entire family will be sitting down together; this enhances kids' appetite. Breakfast is another excellent time for a family meal, especially since kids who eat breakfast tend to do better in school.

Kids enjoy helping their elders. Encourage them to get involved in grocery, tell them what foods are healthy and unhealthy, and apply them in the kitchen to help you out in cooking procedures. Children also love to know about their school lunch boxes, so you can prepare a large snack plan with colourful illustrations.

Refrain from tonffinishingthe whole plate as some kids have less appetite; instead, give them a break and try with another session.

These activities will help your child learn about healthy foods and develop healthy eating habits.

PROBLEMS WITH "PICKY EATERS":

Picky eaters are going through a normal developmental stage, exerting control over their environment and expressing concern about trusting the unfamiliar. Many picky eaters also prefer a "separate compartmented plate," where one type of food doesn't touch another.

Following are the points that can help you to solve problems with picky eaters;

Offer new food only when your child is hungry and rested.

Present only one new food at a time.

Make it fun: a game, a play-filled experience. Cut the food into unusual shapes.

Serve new foods with favourite foods to increase acceptance.

Eat the new food yourself; children love to imitate.

Have your child help to prepare food. Often they will be more willing to try something when they help to make it.

Limit beverages. Picky eaters often fill up on liquids instead.

Limit snacks to two per day.

OTHER POINTS TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

You need to concentrate on your kid's sugar and salt intake. The American Heart Association recommends that sugar intake for children is limited to 3 teaspoons (12 grams) a day. Cutting back on candy and cookies is only part of the solution. Large amounts of added sugar can also be hidden in foods such as bread, canned soups and vegetables, frozen dinners, ketchup, and fast food.

Avoid sodas, and other carbonated beverages, one- 12oz of soda have 10 teaspoons of sugar in it, which is more than three times what is required in daily intake.

Also, cutting down on processed foods like white bread and cakes; can cause a sudden rise in blood sugar that leaves the child tired.

Keep a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables available for snacks. Add fiber-rich foods to your kid's daily menus, like adding extra veggies to soups, stews, and rice. Top a whole-grain cereal bowl with your kid's favourite fruit like bananas, strawberries or other berries. Adding extra fibre to kids' diets also helps them avoid being constipated.

To avoid commercial frozen treats and popsicles, try to make them home, like freezing 100% pure fruit juice in Popsicle containers. Try freezing grapes and other berries, banana or peach slices and serve them with whipped cream for a sweet treat!!