How To Get Kids To Eat Healthier Meals Without The Headache

by Dave Sherwood-Adcock
(London)

You have a wonderful site :) Very informative.

So how do we get our little ones to eat healthier without the headache - maybe just a little more effort.

The truth of the matter is that children are mini-adults, therefore they too need motivating factors to inspire them to eat healthy foods. Adults are in some ways more stubborn than children, ironically however these five factors are true of all of us.

1) Tasty choices. Many kids love plums, pears, watermelon, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, tangerines, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and pineapples yet far too often kids' fruit alternatives are restricted to only apples and bananas, and maybe oranges and grapes too.

Try corn bran, spoon-sized Shredded Wheat, or oatmeal with fresh berries. Instead of crackers or toast made from white flour try bran crispbread as a snack, especially whole-grain pancakes, children love these. Children will develop healthy tastes all the sooner when they start in this direction. Butter on green beans makes them a lot tastier so during the preschool years, make butter a treat for vegetables. Raw carrot sticks go down very well because of the "crunch", and many kids like these all by themselves.

2) The limitation factor. If there are healthy foods readily available, children will pick their favorites from amongst those healthy choices.

3) Presentation needs to be FUN. Multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns compete against us all the time when we are deciding what to feed our children. TV doesn't always help either, because of the many commercials that promote sweetened breakfast cereals - but sweetened cereals are not as healthy as the unsweetened variety. You can add fruit to cereals to take the place of the sweeteners or sugar.

Where are the commercials for fresh fruit and veggies? It's left to us to promote them.

Children love shapes and colourful food. Preschool children often love food that is shaped like a clown, a face, favorite hero or cartoon character or even a dinosaur etc. Processed macaroni is manufactured this way because it sells.

How do we make healthy food as appealing as the empty or harmful alternatives? Try a whole-grain pancake with a strawberry for a nose, kiwi slices for eyes, and banana for the mouth. Stand corn on the cob upright when serving it (pretend it's a rocket ship), decorate food so that children can imagine something else besides a plate full of veggies. Think like a preschool child and let your imagination run.

4) Be a sneak and sneak it in. Make carrot muffins with zucchini bread. Add pieces of fruit or shaved vegetables to virtually any baked dish. While dried fruit is high in sugar, it is also high in fiber so dried cranberries can be a hit.

Kids love smoothies! A great way to hide fruit and vegetables is in whole-food smoothies and juices. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are two recently published cookbooks that offer more ideas on how to hide the healthy stuff!

5) Multivitamins are essential. In this day and age so many foods are processed so give a daily multivitamin as a safety net. Vitamins are compounds necessary in trace amounts for the normal functioning of children and adults alike.

I have great respect for the longstanding relationship between humans and their natural foods. By eating whole foods (fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, etc.), your child can get the necessary vitamins in the healthiest way.

Most preschoolers and toddlers are picky eaters. As children's tastes change as they grow, they do eventually get to eating a more well-rounded diet. So vitamins (the "safety net") takes the pressure off feeding issues during the primary years. You can be free to be creative about increasing whole foods in your child's diet, knowing that vitamins are present to help your child grow strong and healthy without pressure or worry.

Now that we have mass advertising, children's fun meals, and peer pressure makes the battle all the harder. Never push or force them. Instead, entice them, persuade them and most importantly teach them. The battle should never be with your kids. Battle bad nutrition rather.