Help Your Child Eat Healthily

Sugary treats and chocolate are very easy to get your hands on these days. What’s worse, these sugary treats tend to be cheaper than the healthy alternatives. When chocolate and fast food are so easily available and school dinners are still chips and pizza, encouraging your children to eat healthily isn’t going to be easy, but it is very important. Childhood obesity can cause several health problems now and later on in life, so it’s important to make sure your child is eating well and very important to know exactly what they are eating. Eating healthily doesn’t have to be boring or handwork and when made fun, children are more likely to want to eat well and succeed in doing so.

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Here’s a few ways to encourage your children to eat healthily:-

Pack a lunch box.
The night before or, if you have time, in the morning, pack a healthy lunch box for your children. By doing so, you get to decide what they eat and what they drink. School dinners are slowly becoming healthier than they were before, but if you want to know exactly what they are putting into their bodies, pack them a lunchbox of your choosing. Fruit, veg, nuts, sandwiches or even some tuna pasta, you can make their healthy eating tasty.

Get kids cooking.
Turn cooking into a team activity. Let your children take part, they will be more likely to enjoy and eat all their food if they help make it. Everybody wants to taste something they’ve made with their own two hands! The chances are, if you get them into cooking healthily at a young age, they’ll more than likely carry it on as they grow up.

Be healthy with them.
They will want to follow in your footsteps and copy you, especially very young children. If they see you eating and enjoying a delicious, healthy meal then they will want to eat the same thing. Enjoy healthy eating as a family.

Plan out your dinners.
If you cook dinner last minute you are more than likely going to cook something quick and not too healthy. Sticking some chicken dippers in the oven or a pizza is quick and easy but it’s not that healthy. Plan out what you want to cook for dinner, even if it is something simple like tuna and sweetcorn pasta. If you plan it, you will make it! Tell the kids in the morning and get them excited for what they’ll be eating later in the evening.

Teach them about food.
Food is amazing. Different foods can benefit different parts of your body and there is so much natural goodness that goes into your food. It’s kind of like magic.Teach your children this! Teach them about spinach and how much iron it holds, teach them about bananas and how much potassium they have and why that’s good for you. Knowing why your food is good for you is part of eating healthy. Let them know why the food on their plate is better for them than a burger and chips.
eat healthily

Treats aren’t illegal.
It’s true what people say, the more you can’t have something the more you want it. Don’t make chocolate, crisps and treats illegal. It’s okay to have a bar of chocolate or a packet of crisps now and then. If you tell them they can’t have that cake, they’re probably going to go and have it anyway. If you don’t have a few treats in the kitchen cupboard, they’ll go stock up on it while they’re at school or buy it at the store themselves. Treats are okay in moderation.

Super smoothies.
Not only are smoothies a good way of getting your little ones to have some of their five a day, but they can also be fun to make. Let them pick what fruit combinations they want and what flavour yogurt they want to use. Let them take part in the making of the smoothie! It’s a very simple process and they’ll get to see how the fruit go from being a solid to a liquid. Smoothies are healthy, fun and quick. They’re a filling snack or a good way to start off your day to eat healthily.

Exercise with them.
Introduce kids to your fitness regime. There are plenty of exercises that you can encourage your children to join in with. From running to yoga, get them to copy you. Of course exceptions have to be made to allow them to be able to take part, but if they see you doing exercise and enjoying it, they’re going to want to try it as well. Make exercising fun, even if it is just by dancing around to your favourite song in the living room. Get them moving and this will boost their appetite for something gloriously healthy.

 

Conclusion

No matter what techniques you use to encourage your children to eat healthily, it’s always very important to remind them that size does not define a person. Some people are naturally bigger than others and some are naturally smaller. Everybody’s body is different and it’s very important to understand that. Teach them to love their body and teach them that their size does not make them any different to the next person. As long as they eat healthily, enjoy food and enjoy exercise, they’re on a good path.

James Kelly

http://www.learnhandyhealthandwellnesstips.com

High Wycombe, Western Australia, 6057

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