Habits begin at home, and parents want their kids to develop the good ones instead of the bad. Especially when it comes to health-related habits, it’s critical to start your children early. When it comes to eating, kids can be rather picky and difficult. Here’s how you can encourage your children to eat healthier- and form a habit that lasts for a lifetime.
Take Charge of Your Grocery List
If you truly want to discourage children from eating junk food, then one of the best ways to do it is to remove junk from your grocery list. There are no more sugary breakfast cereals, no more candy bars, no salty chips, and everything else in between. And yes, this includes removing it from the adults’ diet too—no more secret stash!
Give Them a Choice: Will They Eat What’s Available or Not at All?
A very effective way to teach agency and promote better choices for kids is to let them choose from your options. They either choose to eat their broccoli or skip the meal now and just eat it later when they’re hungry and ready. The choice makes a significant difference, as kids are more likely to be responsible for themselves when presented with a choice. Of course, this choice is one that you control and guarantees a better result for the child, but its effect on their habits and esteem is irreplaceable.
You Don’t Have to Force Them to Finish Everything
It’s important to remember that kids have a smaller stomach than us adults. You can consult a dietitian to know the proper serving size for your children, or just understand that it’s okay not to clean their plate when they are full or just don’t have the appetite. What’s more important is that they are being provided a nutritious and well-balanced meal every time.
Start Them Early In Life
And start it the right way, too. If you introduce sweets to a very young toddler, it will be harder to control their unhealthy eating habits as they grow older. As wee little children, it’s better to start introducing them to healthier food options like vegetables. Cut them into small sizes that they can grab, steam the veggies, and serve them to them. This way, they’ll develop a palette that recognizes and appreciates vegetables way more than junk food.
Drinks Count, Too
In addition, the younger your kids start with an unhealthy diet, the harder it will be to encourage them to be healthier. This includes drinks. It’s no secret that sugar is addictive, so it’s not a very good idea to give a young child even just a sip of your soda.
Teach Them to Be More Open to Trying New Food
Many children are averse to trying foods they’re not familiar with- it makes sense, as it’s a natural defensive instinct of humans. But it’s critical to teach your children to be curious about different types of food and cuisine to make sure they eat healthy meals. You can encourage them by trying out different cuisines with them. If you’re in the foodservice industry such as a restaurant or charcuterie business you’ve just started, bring your child with you. They’ll be more open to a new food, and they’ll have more appreciation for it, too.
Don’t Treat Desserts as Reward
Oftentimes, exasperation can lead to desperate measures when a kid is not being cooperative or throwing tantrums over the dining table. And while it can be tempting to bait a child with dessert so that they can begrudgingly eat up their healthy meal, it’s not a good practice as this just teaches a false sense of gratification. Soon, they’ll be demanding their favorite cake way before even looking at their main course, and you’ll be forced to give it to them so that they can stop whining.
As you can imagine, that’s not an ideal situation. Instead, don’t treat desserts as rewards. Remain an even stance on different kinds of food, and if they have a favorite, that’s fine as long as it’s not teaching the kid to favor just one dish over everything else.
Avoid Expressing Love Through Food
Love languages have spread through the internet over the past couple of years, and giving food is not one of them. Giving gifts, maybe, but not just food specifically. While it seems innocent and thoughtful, giving food to children as a show of love could be damaging, as they might start using food as a coping mechanism.
As early as now, start teaching your child good habits. Habits that are formed during childhood are important because they’re more likely to stay until adulthood.
