How To Get Your Children To Eat More Healthily

Dinner time with fussy eaters can be frustrating and stressful. The kids are refusing to eat anything remotely like a vegetable, and instead prefer processed, unhealthy food choices. If you’re worried about what your child will and won’t eat, try these tips and tricks to get something healthy into the without the arguments.

Get Them To Help

If they’ve helped to cook it, children are far more likely to be open to trying something new. Choose simple recipes, and try this grilled chicken caesar salad recipe or something like it, where children can hone their motor skills arranging vegetables and salad greens in a way they like the look of. 

Getting their help is a lovely way to spend time together, while also teaching them important kitchen skills they can use for the rest of their lives, and teach them about nutrition and healthy eating. 

Cook international recipes together to learn about different cuisines from around the world, or about your own family heritage. For example, if your child has Italian grandparents, cook a family pasta recipe and explain how it was developed. 

Offer Choice

If they feel forced to eat something, children will resist. Fussy eating is often more about asserting independence than about the food itself, so offer a choice to help them feel more in control.

Don’t overwhelm them with choice, but offer two or three healthy options. For example, instead of just giving them a healthy snack, ask if they would prefer grapes or carrot sticks. 

When you’re deciding what to cook for the family, ask your children for their thoughts. Do they think you should make spaghetti or fajitas on Tuesday night? If they feel they’ve got a choice, they’ll be more open to eating what you give them. 

You can offer more choices by letting them make up their own plates. The ideal meal for a child should include protein, a complex carbohydrate, vegetables, fruit, and milk or other calcium-rich food. Offer them some options in each of these categories so they can create their own meal. They may be far more open to eating something healthy if they chose it themselves. 

Grow Food

Children don’t really think much about where food comes from. You can help them to learn about this by growing some food of your own. Gardening with children is another great way to spend time together while doing something productive and teaching them useful life skills. 

Set aside a small part of the garden and ask your children to help you choose some fruits and vegetables to grow there. Produce that smells good, is bright-colored, or is pretty is a good way to get kids interested in growing it. 

If you’re tight on space, there are lots of fruits and vegetables that can be grown in pots or windowboxes. Take your child to the plant nursery, and ask the staff for advice on what you might best be able to grow. Choose together, and get their help in planting it.