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This is probably one of the most
important and valuable gift you can give your child -- the power to
eat healthy, including lots of veggies. Without health, all our
other life dreams are more challenging to attain. The rewards of
teaching this skill are well worth the effort. Below is a list of
ideas that may help you in your quest to a healthier family. I am
thankful to Dr. William Sears and many brilliant moms for many of
these suggestions.
1. Discuss why it's important. No child will ever embrace the
idea of an apple instead of potato chips for a snack unless you
start to educate them as to why they need to make that choice.
Fruits, vegetables and grains are "grow foods," as Dr. Sears points
out. Grow foods build healthy bodies. Factory foods don't grow.
2. Motivate them. Ask them questions that would motivate them
to eat healthier. For example, ask them how much more they think
they'll grow (for example, how much taller?). Then ask them what
would be the best building materials to help them grow into the body
they imagine. Do they want to fill their growing bodies with junk
food, or do they want to fill it with nutrient-dense "grow" foods
like broccoli, carrots, and apples?
3. Surround kids with healthy food. Keep only the foods that
you want your family to eat in the house. Why tempt anyone with
unhealthy foods? The first point of power is shopping right.
Healthy foods are primarily organic, fresh fruits and vegetables,
whole grain foods, legumes, nuts and seeds. If including meats and
dairy, organic and free-range are best.
4. Have healthy snacks easily available. Since healthy food
isn't always as easy to grab as a bag or box of junk food, take a
little time to prepare for the quick and healthy snack for later.
Wash and cut up fruits and veggies and keep them in an accessible
place in the refrigerator. Have containers with trail mix, nuts,
dried fruit, etc. that either you or your child can get to easily.
Leave a 'nibble tray' on the table with healthy snacks for your
child (and you) to snack on. See
healthy snacks.
5. Be a role model. Kids learn much more by what you do than
by what you say. Be a good role-model and eat healthy foods
yourself. You can't expect your child to eat healthy when you are
eating (whether openly or discreet) junk food.
6. Time it right. Serve vegetables & salads first at dinner
time, when kids are hungriest. Offer the least nutritious (filler)
foods last, when they are more full.
7. Give your child power & involve them. Let them make some
decisions. Ask your kids to tell you which foods they want in the
house for healthy snacks. While shopping or meal planning, give them
a choice between healthy food "A" & healthy food" B". (Do you want
broccoli or carrots tonight?) Let them help you prepare & plan
healthy meals, as they'll be more likely to eat it if they've
invested time into the food.
8. Make healthy foods visually appealing. When presenting
snacks or meals, make them fun and appealing. Make veggie art by
placing the produce in funny faces, pictures, or shapes. Give them
fun names. Be creative!
9. Tailor the taste! Once they decide to try the healthy
food, help them enjoy it! Give them dips for veggies that they'll
love. Put something they are still acquiring a taste for mixed in
with a bunch of other healthy foods they do like. Sometimes, you can
sweeten the healthy choice with cinnamon, agave, raisins, or honey.
10. It's ok to play. Parents many times tell kids not to play
with their food. However, sometimes "playing" with food is the best
way to get it in their bellies. Make stories at the table with the
food as the characters. Say "don't eat me!", and they'll be very
tempted to do just that! And when they do, continue the dialogue all
the way to the belly ("It's dark in here! What is that gooey thing
next to me? I'm lonely!"). Or maybe the peas are little airplanes
coming in for a landing. Ok. These games to depend on your child's
age.
11. Have regular family meals. Family meals are a comforting
ritual for both parents and kids. It allows for predictability,
family time, and nourishment. Try to serve nutritious food at a time
that everyone can be there, even if this means a later dinner. Kids
who take part in regular family meals also tend to eat more fruits
and vegetables, are less likely to snack on unhealthy foods. Let
this environment be peaceful and calm, this is not a time for
lectures.
12. Avoid battles over food. If you need to lecture your kids
about something, save it until after meal or snack time. Let healthy
foods be digested peacefully.
13. Expose kids to where their food comes from. Sometimes all
it takes is a little education for children to see the value of
nutritious whole foods. If they see the difference between food
growing organically out of the ground vs. chemicals being mixed
together and put in a bag, I think we'd know what they would choose.
Especially when we refer back to "why" is healthy food important.
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Grow your own fruits and
veggies. This gives them not only an excellent education as
how food grows, but they are more likely to eat foods that
they've grown and cared for. Even if you live in an apartment,
you can grown foods in containers on the balcony, or herbs
inside your house. (I love this in the Colorado winter -- it
gives me the "green" I need to see!)
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Go to local farms or farmer's
markets. This is a fun and informative way to show your
children where foods come from and the people who grow them.
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Read the ingredients.
Reading the ingredients on food products can expose children to
what they are really eating...chemicals or food?
14. Try something new. Try new
fruits and vegetables - don't assume your kids won't like
them. Sometimes a child needs to be exposed to a new food 14 times
before they'll eat it. Be creative on how you introduce it. Someone
once said, play a game and blind fold your child and see if they can
describe, as detailed as possible, what it is they are eating. They
can even make up their own name for it.
15. Allow the occasional junk food. Occasionally allow your
child to choose a "moderate junk food" for snack. Chronic
deprivation will often backfire. Of course, make sure they aren't
going overboard on the type of junk food they choose. Avoid super
sugary foods and trans-fat.
16. Be sneaky. If other attempts to incorporate healthy food
and veggies fail, you can resort to being sneaky! Hide fruits,
veggies and other healthy foods in other foods. Put fruit and even
small amounts of veggies in fruit smoothies. Put finely shredded
veggies (carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, etc.) in marinara sauces,
casseroles, pastas, burritos, etc. Put veggies in soups and puree.
17. Be Patient. Avoid creating any disharmony about the new
and improved menu items. You may hear some complaints. When kids
know the plan, and it is a fair plan, they usually come around. Keep
your goal in focus: to have your kids embrace these healthier food
choices and smarter ways of eating, for a lifetime. You may want to
make rapid changes, but children many times need their change in
baby steps.
18. Supplement with whole food concentrates. Kid's eating
habits can be erratic. They can be picky. And let's face it, they
don't always eat a large variety of fruits and vegetables, even with
our best efforts. That's why it's good to know you can bridge the
gap between what your kids should eat and what they do eat by giving
them a high quality, well researched,
whole food supplement
containing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
Thank you for your passion in helping shape children's lives. I hope
this information has been empowering to you. Please feel free to
contact me with any comments or questions. I would love to hear from
you!
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