Mar 01, 2017
Do you ever worry about leaving long-term scars on your children from obsessing over healthy eating? Sometimes it can be stressful to get your kids to eat healthy foods, and often the best way to incorporate it into their lives is to include them into the discussion and the process. How we handle what our children eat or do not eat when our children are young will form and shape how children view food overall.
But placing too much focus on one type over another can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University says: "By demanding that children eat things like vegetables before they have a dessert, it makes it seem like there's something wrong with eating vegetables, and that you have to swallow medicine before you get to the good part.
Dieticians report that when children are forced to eat all of something, their response to that type of food is more negative. Makes sense! Here are some tips for you to encourage healthy eating:
Include your children in the meal-planning and cooking process, when feasible. Some fun ways to engage the children would be to have “Try It Tuesday” or “Make Something New Monday”. Have the kids help pick out the food you’ll be trying. Older kids can also help with peeling, cutting, washing and other preparation. If they are part of the prep team, they will likely be more vested in giving the meal a try.
Go for a color-wheel approach on the plate. Instead of focusing on healthy vs. not healthy or good food vs. junk food, try to make the dinner experience an adventure with colorful and bright foods. The WebMD FitJr website features tons of tips on making eating fun. Try kid-friendly foods that can be eaten with tiny fingers, cut sandwiches into fun shapes with cookie cutters, play with the overall presentation on cool plates! If you really want to get creative, carve their names out of fruit or cheese blocks; hide the letters of their name in their school lunch.
Allow your children to serve themselves. A child’s portion is much different than what an adult would eat. Nutritionists recommend a child eat a TBSP per their age. So, a four-year-old would have four tablespoons of fruit, as an example. If you are serving your children, serve them a smaller entrée portion accompanied by more fruits and vegetables. This approach really works to help your kids eat more fruits and veggies. A 2014 article in Appetite magazine found children who were served large entrees ate more entree and less fruits and veggies, unsurprisingly. When kids were served a smaller entrée portion, they ate MORE fruits and veggies.
March is the national observance month for nutrition and a great time to start incorporating some of these ideas into your eating plan.
But placing too much focus on one type over another can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University says: "By demanding that children eat things like vegetables before they have a dessert, it makes it seem like there's something wrong with eating vegetables, and that you have to swallow medicine before you get to the good part.
Dieticians report that when children are forced to eat all of something, their response to that type of food is more negative. Makes sense! Here are some tips for you to encourage healthy eating:
Include your children in the meal-planning and cooking process, when feasible. Some fun ways to engage the children would be to have “Try It Tuesday” or “Make Something New Monday”. Have the kids help pick out the food you’ll be trying. Older kids can also help with peeling, cutting, washing and other preparation. If they are part of the prep team, they will likely be more vested in giving the meal a try.
Go for a color-wheel approach on the plate. Instead of focusing on healthy vs. not healthy or good food vs. junk food, try to make the dinner experience an adventure with colorful and bright foods. The WebMD FitJr website features tons of tips on making eating fun. Try kid-friendly foods that can be eaten with tiny fingers, cut sandwiches into fun shapes with cookie cutters, play with the overall presentation on cool plates! If you really want to get creative, carve their names out of fruit or cheese blocks; hide the letters of their name in their school lunch.
Allow your children to serve themselves. A child’s portion is much different than what an adult would eat. Nutritionists recommend a child eat a TBSP per their age. So, a four-year-old would have four tablespoons of fruit, as an example. If you are serving your children, serve them a smaller entrée portion accompanied by more fruits and vegetables. This approach really works to help your kids eat more fruits and veggies. A 2014 article in Appetite magazine found children who were served large entrees ate more entree and less fruits and veggies, unsurprisingly. When kids were served a smaller entrée portion, they ate MORE fruits and veggies.
March is the national observance month for nutrition and a great time to start incorporating some of these ideas into your eating plan.
