How to Raise Your Children to Have Healthy Eating Habits
If you are ready to end your child’s bad eating habits there are things that you can do. You can start right now by letting your children know they are not in charge anymore of what they eat. Whether your child is 3 or 12 you should be in charge of what is served at meals. It is your decision to choose what will be offered, and it is the child’s decision to eat it or not. If you’re child doesn’t like what’s offered it is not your responsibility to go to the kitchen and prepare something else they may like. Just tell them they don’t have to eat it, but you will set is aside in case they are hungry later. When you go to the kitchen and make something else the child has won; they have undermined your authority and you must not let this happen. Children are very smart, and will figure out ways to get what they want, instead of what they need.
Hunger is one of the best tools a parent has when trying to teach their children to eat right. If your child is never hungry then there is nothing compelling them to eat the food you offer. Do not let them go to the kitchen and make their own meals, children are not knowledgeable enough to choose appropriate foods for their diet to help them grow. As a parent it is also not your responsibility to make separate meals for each child. Serve one meal, as a family where everyone eats the same thing.
As a parent, you have to start thinking about food choices before birth. During pregnancy if you eat healthy, your child will be more likely to make better choices. It has also been proved through several scientific studies that breast fed children are more likely to eat vegetables at a younger age, and also more likely to eat a variety of foods. Formula is the same thing over and over, it never changes. The flavor of breast milk changes daily as the mother eats different foods, which is why breast fed children seem to make better choices when it comes to eating.
So what should you offer your children? All children should be receiving dairy, plant, and fiber based foods. Bread, pasta, fruit, nuts, beans, and vegetables should be offered on a daily basis. Of course the diet should be balanced according to the new food pyramid. Also, a single serving is often miscalculated when preparing meals at home. Most parents think a serving is whatever they put on the plate. A single serving size should be about �½ cup or the size of your fist. When it comes to meat, it should be no bigger than a deck of cards.
Families that eat dinner together, often eat healthier. It is essential to have a sit down dinner with your family in order to start teaching your children good eating habits. This is also a great time for families to interact with each other and share their day. When it comes to sit down dinner, a lot of families do not have time, but if you have young children you should make time. Eating habits are learned early, and not broken easily. Family dinner should only be accompanied by dessert on special occasions like birthdays and holidays, and should be sparring. Fruits make great desserts and have much less sugar and fat than most baked goods.
So you’re eating family dinner and Emily doesn’t want to eat the broccoli. So, what do you do? The first thing to remember is not to force your child to eat the vegetables or any other food. If you force them to eat it they may throw up, cry, or gag and never eat the food again. Forcing them to eat it only gives them bad memories to associate with the food making it more likely they will not eat it in the future.
Let them go hungry, remember hunger is one of the best learning tools when it comes to establishing healthy eating habits. Also, sometimes when children are young they actually taste some green vegetables as bitter, when we taste them as flavorful or even sweet (like peas). If this is the case, they will grow out of it and you just have to be patient and wait.
Another important thing to remember when trying to get your little ones to eat healthy is not to bribe them. You shouldn’t have to give your children sweets or salty snacks in order to get them to eat right. When you do this you are actually teaching them to over eat, which can lead to eating disorders in teenagers and young adults. When you say “if you eat the peas you can have ice cream after dinner” you are actually saying “this food is so terrible that I have to convince you to eat it by offering something you like in return”. Children should not have to be bribed to eat healthy, and if you bribe them they will never eat right. If they eat the food on their own accord, offer them praise and appreciation.
What about convenience? In a world of 24 hour fast food and diners it is easy to get off track, especially with the busy lives we all lead today. No single person is more than 50 feet from a snack in America with vending machines, candy at every store, fast food on every street corner, and junk food at home. Just because you choose to eat fast food tonight doesn’t mean that it has to be unhealthy. Simply choose healthier options like baked instead of fried chicken, salad instead of French fries, and milk or juice instead of soda pop.
When it comes to preparing meals, you should let your children help as much as possible. Children that are involved in grocery shopping and meal preparation are more likely to eat the foods you offer them. If you let them help make the spaghetti or tacos it is more likely that they will try the foods and like them. Children that are fully engaged in what they are preparing and eating more often enjoy their food, and finish their plate. Remember it is important to have variety too. If you have several children let them each pick out and help prepare a meal once a week. You should include lots of change, interest, and excitement when it comes to preparing food at home.
What about calcium intake for young girls? Well, when it comes to young children any child under the age of 2 should have at least one serving of whole milk each day. As your child ages, you can change your milk to 2% or skim milk to avoid high fat intake. Females up to the age of 25 need some sort of calcium everyday. If your child doesn’t like milk you can also get calcium from cheeses, soy milk, rice milk, and other fortified substitutes.
How do you get your child to WANT to eat healthy, even when you’re not around? The key to maintaining proper diet and healthy eating habits is to start young. From birth, you should be focusing on everything that goes into their mouth. If you don’t want your child to eat something, don’t keep it in the house. This goes for snacks, desserts, candy, soda pop, chips, juices, cookies, and fast food. Don’t keep these foods in the house and then expect your child not to eat it. As soon as it’s forbidden the food becomes more appealing and the child is going to want it, even if they are not hungry or don’t really like it that much. They want the food because you said no.
The best way to change their behavior is to change yours. Most adults don’t eat properly, which in turn teaches their children it is okay not to eat healthy. You have to be an example; if you are serving broccoli with dinner, eat it – don’t just push it around on your plate, your children will notice and then they won’t eat theirs. Play games with your food, make it fun and make it interesting. Make sandwiches look like faces with carrot sticks for eyebrows, and red peppers for lips, grapes for eyes, and so on. These kinds of things make eating much more enjoyable and actually make meals something to look forward to.
When your children eat right without having to be told offer up praise and support. If they are still not eating healthy offer as much encouragement as you’ve got, it’s going to take all of it. Remember to be an example, set goals, and reward good eating habits.
