Health Food and kids

In digestive health, nutrition by Jerry RothouseLeave a Comment

Do your kids often eat junk food?

Chances are, the answer to that one is a resounding yes because, as all parents know, kids everywhere in the world absolutely love junk food such as hamburgers, pizza, candy, soda and salty foods like potato chips and french fries. Like most parents, you probably want to wean your child away from junk food (or at least lessen his intake of it) and reinforce his diet with healthy food such as grains, vegetables, fruits and nutrient-rich foods such as meat, beans, fish and nuts.

Here are some tips to help you achieve just that. The basic strategy is to make eating healthy food fun for the kids. You probably can even think of more ways to use this strategy when feeding your child.

(1) The Sneak Attack.

Sneak in those fruits and vegetables with a type of food that your child really enjoys. One example would be making muffins out of bananas or apples. If your kids like pizza, you can sneak in a wide variety of vegetables in there that your youngsters probably won’t even notice. Another tack is to arrange the food in creative ways that will appear funny and play-like to your child. For instance, you can arrange the food creatively on a plate or make food stand at attention like people.

(2) Funny Name Game.

Kids below the age of four always fall for this one. It’s called the funny name game and involves giving healthy foods like fruits and vegetables funny names and conjuring up interesting stories involving the food. Obviously, many of these stories will conclude with the food being gobbled up by the giant child or having the food run for cover to avoid an alien attack by ducking into a big cave that also happens to be your kid’s mouth.

(3) The Taste Test.

The main reason kids don’t like vegetables is that they can’t stand the taste. Hence, if you can add things kids love like peanut butter to celery or some ranch dressing to broccoli, your kids may go for those veggies.

The main thing is to be creative about feeding your kids. I’m sure you can look into your kitchen and discover your own way to make eating healthy food a fun experience.

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