We all want to bring up healthy eaters without needing to pull out all our hair in the process. Feeding children is difficult, really difficult. In a land full of processed food, we are fighting the tide each and every day. Here are some tips to help you along the way:
· Do not rely on your child’s taste buds to lead the way. They will always want processed food over whole food. Why? Because it tastes better.
· Continue to offer healthy food over and over again. You are not looking for it to become your child’s favorite food but one that is OK for them to eat.
· You cannot rely on your child’s ability to self-select a healthy diet. He will seek out sweet and salty tastes because that is what he is hard wired to do.
· Set up clear expectations for meals and snacks: a vegetable must be eaten at each meal and snack time for example.
· Have consequences at the table from a very early age. If you child does not want to eat the healthy food you served, do not offer another option and do not serve her a sweet until she eats her healthy food first.
Creating a healthy eater is hard work, but so is bringing up your child to be polite, kind and to get to bed on time. As with all other behaviors that we teach our children, be consistent, firm and loving and remember the goal: to bring up healthy, strong and smart kids that know how to eat in a world full of processed food.
· Do not rely on your child’s taste buds to lead the way. They will always want processed food over whole food. Why? Because it tastes better.
· Continue to offer healthy food over and over again. You are not looking for it to become your child’s favorite food but one that is OK for them to eat.
· You cannot rely on your child’s ability to self-select a healthy diet. He will seek out sweet and salty tastes because that is what he is hard wired to do.
· Set up clear expectations for meals and snacks: a vegetable must be eaten at each meal and snack time for example.
· Have consequences at the table from a very early age. If you child does not want to eat the healthy food you served, do not offer another option and do not serve her a sweet until she eats her healthy food first.
Creating a healthy eater is hard work, but so is bringing up your child to be polite, kind and to get to bed on time. As with all other behaviors that we teach our children, be consistent, firm and loving and remember the goal: to bring up healthy, strong and smart kids that know how to eat in a world full of processed food.
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