Healthy Eating For Finicky Kids
One of the greatest dilemmas of parents are growing finicky eaters. Yes, growing-they are and therefore they need the best nutrition they could get to support every single cell which are hopefully, happy.
So how do you motivate your darling little monsters to eat smart? A very good question indeed, as most parents still mistake “eating right” with “eating a lot”. And this should not be so.
Here are some helpful tips to get picky toddlers to enjoy healthy food and in time develop a well-rounded diet:
* The best probable way to introduce new, healthy food to children would be showing them that you, yourself take delight in devouring such food. As known to most, children are very fond of imitating what elders often do, so having regular family meals is a great way to train children to start eating right.
* Aside from serving healthy food at the dining table, parents should also consider stocking up healthy food. As kids, specially younger ones, would consume what they would find readily available at home, keeping healthy goodies like yogurt, peanut butter, fruits, whole-grain crackers and cereals, cheese, etc. would prompt children to take on them.
* Creativity and Participation. Be more creative in preparing meals. Create interesting shapes, choose more colorful fruits or veggies, use celeries as edible spoons, and the list of fun things for kids goes on, let your imagination run wild. It would also be delightful for kids to be helping out in the actual preparation of meals and surely make them anxious to take on something that they themselves made.
* When introducing vegetables to children, be patient and never battle over food. Out of good intentions, some parents try to bargain healthy meals by reward schemes or bribes. It is not good to make children eat healthy food because there would be some treats afterward. Eating healthy should be established as something pleasurable and eventually a routine.
* For stubborn kids, continually offer healthy meals and gently encourage them to take one bite. If they don’t like it, do not force them. Stopping at the first bite would make food tasting less scary for them.
* And when all else fails, get sneaky. Bake carrot cakes, zucchini breads. Turn fruits and vegetables into frothy smoothies or shakes. Top meals with sliced fruits or shaved vegetables.
And a very important point that parents should keep in mind is that, the battle should be with bad nutrition and not with your kids. Don’t be resentful and make your kids feel guilty out of not wanting the healthy food that you have been preparing. As with most anything in life, patience is your key to successfully enticing kids to eat healthy.
