5 Easy Ways To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthier
The new school year is upon us, and it’s every parent’s mealtime (and lunchbox) crusade – getting your kids to eat healthier. Well, its mine at least. Easy(ish) when they’re young and they pretty much eat anything you put in front of them. Not so easy when school starts and they discover a whole new world – like their classmate’s lunch boxes filled with no-no’s like soda and Doritos.
When my 3 kids were babies I started them all of with what I think is the Bible of healthy-baby-eating, The Super Baby Food Book. Well, I admit that it got to a lesser degree with #2, but with #3 came the the advent of commercial organic baby food, which made things a lot easier. Whether you are a DIY Mom like Ruth of the Super Baby Book (who also makes her own Play Dough, mind you), or prefer to buy from the organic aisle at the supermarket, know that giving your kids a healthy diet now means setting up their foundations for a healthy life. Now isn’t that a worthwhile mission?
Here are my tips on how to help you get started (and hopefully keep going!):
1. Teach Them About Health
My Mom did this for my sister and I (she was and still is what you would call a “health nut”), and I have to say that it stuck. Explain to your kids WHY certain foods are good or bad for you and you’ll be surprised how well they’ll respond. I try and use language they understand like: “…healthy food like fruit and vegetables helps you get bigger and stronger, but also makes your “soldiers” strong to fight bad germs so you don’t get sick“. There are a few kids shows now which touch on this, as well as books. Read/watch and talk about it with them and be prepared to answer their questions.
2. Vegetarian Meals= Budget meals
Yes, its true! Add a vegetarian meal or two to your weekly menu and see how much you can save. It’s a known fact that fresh produce is significantly cheaper than meats (which are some of the costliest food items in stores), so by serving say, a vegetarian lasagna rather than the “al forno” with beef, you not only give your kids a veggie-filled nutritious meal, you also save on the weekly budget (yipee!), plus it’s good for the planet. Why? read about vegatarianism and the environment here.
3. Make it Fun!
My kids and I like to play quick games like guessing which food is “healthy or not”. For example, what’s better? french fries or apple slices with cinnamon? (Okay, so my husband doesn’t join in and prefers to roll his eyes- but WE enjoy it!). The winner gets a small prize like stickers. You can also make healthy food attractive and fun by using a cookie cutter to make shapes and adding “faces” (raisins and sliced red pepper make easy instant characters). Brit Mom turned kid-food guru, Anabel Karmel is a total wiz at this and I love her cookbooks.
4. Go Organic
Finding organic food is really easy these days, and the health benefits are huge. Would you prefer to feed your kids things without harmful chemicals and pesticides? With more nutrients and vitamins? I would. It’s a really simple choice, and really worth the extra effort.
5. Plan Ahead and Cook More, Mom!
I really believe that planning ahead, being organized and cooking yourself is the key to healthier eating. Look online for new healthy recipes to try (you can get the kids to help choose here), add more fruit and veg to your meals, and take a few minutes every Sunday to plan healthy weekly menus- this really helps keep me in budget too!
September 8th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I think another good tip is to eat healthier yourself. If your kids see you don’t something, chances are they are going to want to imitate your behavior!
September 16th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I really enjoyed this post. It was a fun read as well as being an educational one, and I liked that you made health a game for your kids. Very creative! I have a suggestion for some healthy fruit your kids might like. Del Monte has these new fruit bowls, that have the fruit pre-peeled (undressed, lol) and come in not just fruit but “citris salads”. They’re small, affordable and very healthy. Maybe you can make another game out of them?
Here’s the link if you’re interested in learning more
http://bit.ly/42t1Ne
September 21st, 2009 at 1:56 am
Had to laugh that your husband rolled his eyes because mine does too. I have that book also, great find with my first born. With my second the organic baby food was easier to come by, that frozen section of Happy Baby and what not was not around. Makes me want to have another!
September 21st, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Getting kids to eat healthy foods is certainly a task, but it’s possible! We found by making the food preparation fun for the kids, the healthy foods are a hit. We put together what is called, Alphabet Kitchen – a slew of kid-friendly recipes like Ants on a Log, Apple Smiles, and Banana Catepillars! These fun kid-friendly recipes along with some great hands-on activities are often featured on WQLN’s Ready Set Learn.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 am
Great post! Healthy food is so important and drip feeding why it is so to kids every day by example and the food in the house really does work. Eventually they get it and just don’t know any different! They understand that sugary things are a rare treat and are completely cool with that. Amazing little people!
September 24th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I really like your idea about the “healthy or no” game. This teaches kids early on to make healthy choices and it makes meal time more fun. Its never easy getting a little one to choose a tomato over a popsicle but at least this may get them on the right track.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:23 am
I’m all for healthy meals for kids. But how about taking it a step further and packing a waste-free lunch. Check out this post:
http://planetforward.ca/blog/green-tip-pack-waste-free-lunches/
October 19th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Healthy Baby Happy Home: A must-have resource for green parenting!
As both a parent of an active toddler and an enthusiastic, expectant mom – nothing is more sacred to me than the successful creation of a healthy, happy and “Green” home environment for my beloved children. So, needless to say I count myself as ‘privileged’ to have been referred by a mom in our parenting group to the Healthy Baby Happy Home website. Using their developmentally sound resources, I discovered countless, affordable ways to create a ‘model’ green home environment. And though, our family is admittedly on a tight budget these days, I have managed to discover valuable ‘green parenting’ techniques including: practical ways to eliminate the dangerous toxins and chemicals lurking in our home and in popular cleaning products; to baby-proofing, safety tips and even an eco-friendly nutritional guide (all within my limited budget, no less)!
So, for any new and expectant parents who similarly desire to create an affordable, efficient and healthy green home for their children, but do not know how or where to begin…I wholeheartedly recommend Healthy Baby Happy Home as a one-stop resource site and book for any parent on a mission to create a healthy eco-friendly home environment. When you get a chance, visit http://healthybabyhappyhome.com/ and don’t bother to thank me, just be kind enough to refer me to any other empowering, practical parenting tips, sites or resources you have discovered on your parenting journey!
December 21st, 2009 at 8:07 pm
This is a great post on making sure that children are eating right (which is sometimes next to impossible to do)! I added a Toddler Parenting community on my website, shareWIK (share What I Know) and would love your input! ShareWIK is an online community bringing together people of all areas of expertise so that they can share what they know. Keep up the great work, and we would love to hear from you!