How To Encourage Your Child To Eat Healthy Food.
May 14, 2009
Most parents wish to encourage their child to eat healthy food for his growth and development. However, this wish is not always fulfilled and it is in the hands of parents to encourage them to eat healthy food. Some tips could help you encourage your kids to eat healthy food.
Parents can make it a routine to eat food with their children and set an example by eating a lot of healthy food like fruits, vegetables, cereals and wholegrains. The child would learn to be polite at he table and would feel encouraged to try out fruits, vegetables and other nutritive items.
Parents can put small amounts of various foods in the child’s plate and encourage him to taste and choose what he likes to eat the most. Never force a child to eat because he may not be hungry at times. Besides forcing could turn eating into an unpleasant experience.
Praise your child when he eats something and tell him something like, “Tom is going to be a real big tall boy.” Make meal-times a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
To encourage a child to try out a new healthy food item, parents should never give a snack, fruit juice or a low-fat dairy product an hour before a meal. Doing this could help help make the child more receptive to the new taste when he comes to the table quite hungry for a meal.
Parents should stop categorizing food as breakfast, lunch or dinner items. Encouraging a young child to eat any good and healthy food at each meal would foster good eating habits in the child. If he does not eat rather remove his plate tactfully than scold or punish him. Negative emotions would only discourage a fussy child further to try out a healthy food item.
Be creative and imaginative in using healthy food items by changing the shape, size and adding a lot of color and variety of items. By using vegetables like red pepper, green pepper, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes you could prepare a yogurt mix on one day, a salad on the next, with spaghetti on the third day and in peanut butter sandwiches on the fourth day.
Similarly broccoli and other vegetables ould be added with his favorite sauces and dips. Hence the child would look out for new dishes and be encouraged to come to the table to taste that appetizing health food.
Being a tactful parent involves not imposing your ideas but letting the child to eat the health food ut in his plate as he likes and prefers to eat it. Some children feel encouraged to eat different foods separately; placing sandwich fillings or salads separately outside the bread would encourage a child to eat healthy food and better too.
A parent should make it a point to serve his favorite fruit or flavored yogurt as a dessert once he has eaten. Such desserts are healthy and a variety could make the child look forward to it daily and be encouraged to eat better.
However an ice-cream or sweet could be given after meals on weekends. However, bring the dessert to the table only after all have finished their meals.
I am sure any parent can encourage their child to eat healthy wholesome diet by following all these tips.
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