Why Is Healthy Eating Important?
Healthy eating habits play an important role in a child’s development. It helps them grow physically as well as mentally. Hence, it is important to understand healthy eating habits for kids.
Unhealthy foods can cause several health conditions such as childhood obesity, diabetes etc. However, having them in moderation is still good.
While food from outside is safe to consume occasionally. It is important we teach children to eat healthy food. These habits play a huge role in their overall development.
Also read: Fun Activities For Kids (Indoor Easy Craft Activities)
How Can I Get My Child To Eat Healthy?
It’s often difficult to get children to eat healthily, this is mainly because we always celebrate something with junk foods, or with candies.
While there is nothing wrong with eating junk foods or candies once in a while. It makes an image that unhealthy food is rewarding and unhealthy foods are not.
Hence, here are some ways to encourage healthy eating habits:
– Don’t force them
No one likes to be forced to eat things. Some kids don’t like a certain texture of food or it could be the taste that they don’t enjoy. Hence, give them a choice between something healthy and something a little less healthy.
This way you aren’t forcing them to eat something you want. Habits can’t change overnight. Hence, it is important to take small steps.
– Hide veggies
This is a great way to get them familiarised with the taste of different foods. If your child likes pancakes, add oats in the batter instead of your regular flour. You can even hide veggies in smoothies.
There are many healthy alternatives that you can try to slowly introduce these foods to your children.
Look at some healthy recipe alternatives at Plant You
– Avoid Rewarding Them With unhealthy foods
We often reward good behaviour with unhealthy foods. While this may not be wrong, it sets a wrong mindset. Instead, try rewarding them with better alternatives.
When rewarded with unhealthy snacks, they assume that this is “good food” even though they know the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods. It makes them crave such things more.
– Healthy Snacks
If your child is a fussy eater and has a sweet tooth. Then, alternate snacks with healthier options. There are many recipes that can be made at home and are much better than processed and packaged foods.
Healthy snacks for kids will help them to get the required nutrients. Moreover, this will help subside their sugar cravings.
An example of this could be a fruit bowl instead of a bowl of ice cream. Since fruits have natural sweeteners, it’s a great alternative for sugar cravings.
– Schedule Meals
Scheduling meals help to set the body clock which helps in reducing cravings. While satisfying cravings once in a while is good.
Moreover, it helps you to keep a balanced diet for the child. And, it also plays a role in managing their appetite.
Read more about: Why Is Meal Planning Important?
– Make Healthy Foods Fun
When we speak about healthy foods, we often think of salads or boiled vegetables. However, this shouldn’t be the case. Learn how to make the same boring food more fun. There are a number of alternatives that can help you achieve this.
– Involve Your Kids While Cooking
If you want your child to eat healthy food, you must inculcate good eating habits in them. You can do this by involving them in the cooking process, asking them to chop vegetables or wash the veggies. Moreover, you can ask them to pick a recipe and involve them in grocery shopping.
– Take Small Steps
Diet changes can be difficult. Hence, don’t stress out a lot. Take slow steps. No one likes being forced hence start small. You can even offer them dry fruits as they are filled with nutrients. And, slowly move on to veggies.
If your child is a fussy eater, you can also opt for making homemade pizza and adding a lot of veggies.
We must understand that healthy eating does not mean having boring foods. You can make fun recipes that are flavourful. Inculcating good eating habits in kids is essential as nutrients are important for their growth and development.
For any individual, there should be a balance in every meal. Have healthy foods such as rice, greens, milk, etc. However, having foods such as pizzas and burgers once in a week does no harm.
Conclusion
If you want your child to have healthy eating habits, you must make sure to make food fun. You can also try fun and healthy snacks for kids. Food plays an important role in their physical and emotional development.
Having a healthy relationship with food is extremely important. Moreover, teaching children about balanced meals is equally important. When someone has a bad relationship with food, they are more likely to develop eating disorders or have health issues.
Hence, inculcating your approach to food with kids can help them live a long and healthy lifestyle.
