As a parent, getting my kids to eat healthy food is something that I struggle with on a daily basis.
I am pretty lucky for the most part in that my kids LOVE fruits. They LOVE vegetables. And although they love soda, they know that it is not the best choice for them so they choose milk or water to drink about 99% of the time.
Like I said, I am lucky.
But here is the thing, how do we ever know when enough is enough when it comes to eating healthy? I mean I never think that my kids can eat healthy enough. They can never get too many fruits or veggies into those little growing bodies, right?
Here are a few of my tips for getting my kids to eat healthy food:
1. Let them plan. We come up with our grocery lists together after we plan our meals together. They take a huge part in the process and are very invested.
2. Let them shop. My kids come with me to the grocery store. They help me plan and cook the meals so they help me shop as well. We make it fun and each kid has a list of their own of things they have to find. Once we started doing it this way, I found that my kids really stick to their lists and hardly ever try to add/ask for impulse purchases like cookes or chips.
3. Let them cook. I find that when they cook with me, they are much more likely to eat what they make. If we cook healthy, they eat healthy.
4. Give them the tools they need to make the right decisions. They know what they should eat. We put the food pyramid up in our house. They have the tools. I have the trust that they will make good decisions.
5. Don't deny. My kids like soda every once in a while. They like ice cream. If they want to have these things as treats every once in a while, I am fine with it.
6. Come up with creative ideas. I freeze cups of yogurt with popsicle sticks and grapes for desserts in our house. I scour the Internet for recipes incorporating the most amount of fruits and veggies possible. Get creative and see what happens.
7. Praise. Praise. Praise. Every single time my kids make a good decision, I tell them how proud I am of them. I recognize that they could have chosen something else.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon. The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Horizon Organic brand.
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I think that personal example helps very much as well my kids will eat what i eat, if i each junk all day there is no way they are eating their veggies today 🙂
My kids love smoothies so I put veggies in. We also love cooking together, it’s fun and great learning experience for them to learn ingredients.
It is difficult to find well-informed individuals on this topic, however, you seem like guess what happens you’re referring to! Thanks
Set a limit. That’s what I do with my kid. He likes lollies and candies like all kids do. So, I just set a limit on how much of those food he can eat. It’s sort of like a compromise that works for both of us.
Those are GREAT tips!
I actually think #5, don’t deny is very important to help establish a lifetime of healthy eating habits.
We had to deal fool allergies early on in my son’s life so he was on a pretty limited diet for the first few years. As a result I have a no candy, ice cream, soda eating/drinking kid of which I’m very happy about. Now if we could just get him to eat more veggies & fruits… #3 is really good especially when the express an interest in it.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. I also think that if parents eat healthy kids are more willing to eat healthy food too.