Easy Healthy Eating for Kids

But given kids' fondness for everything that's unhealthy - crisps, chips, sweets and chocolate, chicken shapes, burgers - and when time is so often at a premium, how do you do it?

Don't announce to your kids that from now on you'll be eating more healthily - that makes it sound like a threat! Introduce healthier foods into the week's menus one at a time.

Experiment to find ways of serving healthy foods that your children really enjoy, then quietly drop the less healthy items bit by bit.

Healthy eating for kids is so important, because it's vital to prevent childhood obesity,so even if they protest, remember that you're doing your kids and their health a real, lifelong favour, and instilling new habits that they can take into adulthood.

• Introduce new foods bit by bit, and they'll soon be enjoying a more nutritious diet without even noticing.
• Set the pattern by eating well yourself.
• Add some new healthy recipes to your list of favourites.
• Think about healthy eating for the whole family, for babies and toddlers, teens and adults. If you're concerned about your child's weight, see our tips on weight loss for kids.
• Make mealtimes a pleasure, and never give food as a reward, or withhold favourite foods as a punishment.
• Wise up on healthy portion control.
• Serve a wide range of fresh foods, to make sure kids get all the vitamins they need.
• Involve children with choosing and cooking food. You’ll be giving them a healthy attitude to food that will last a lifetime.

START MAKING HEALTHIER CHOICES

• First of all, arm yourself with the fast food facts. It isn't a coincidence that children’s obesity is on the rise. It's all to do with the hidden fats, sugars and salt in their diet.
• If you have to eat from junk food outlets on occasion - and try to avoid these as much as possible - learn how to choose healthy fast foods.

• Find out how to read labels and understand what they mean. Learn a bit about food additives, and how processed food is produced - it isn't always pleasant, but it'll help you make changes towards healthy eating.
• Shift the way you shop. Think fresh, local, seasonal when you're shopping, go for organic whenever you can.
• Keep a list of healthy and unhealthy foods handy, to remind you what are the good choices when you're shopping. Once you know which are the healthy fats, the foods with fibre, it becomes easy to pick the right things off the shelves. Once you get into the swing of it, organising healthy eating for kids is very straightforward.
• Build a repertoire of simple family meals that are healthy, and taste great. Make fruit and vegetables, seeds and nuts part of your everyday life. Make sure kids always get their five servings a day. It soon becomes second nature, and you'll all reap the health benefits.
• Cut out fizzy drinks. Wise up on healthy drinks for kids.
• Learn how to pack healthy lunch boxes for kids.
• Encourage children to experiment with cooking, and try out some Healthy Recipes for Kids.

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