Eating with your kids is the best way to teach them about health! Together you can learn what foods are good for you, and your children will thank you later for teaching them healthy eating habits.
Today we see a lot of overweight children, and a lot of this has to do with the food choices we offer our kids. A little junk food is OK, but we need to make sure they are getting good nutrition and exercise!
As parents, our best way to lead is by example. If our children see us eating properly, they will as well. Making sure we all get to sit down together for meals is a great way to combine healthy food and family time!
Organic foods are a wonderful way to make sure your kids are getting the best nutrition possible. If you have a organic foods store near you, make it a special trip with your kids, and encourage them to pick out something new to try. Look for a fun cookbook with creative recipes you and your kids can make together.
Vegetables are probably the greatest challenge when it comes to getting the proper foods into your child’s diet. You can hide them in meatloaf, soups, and casseroles, and even sneak them into their beverages: I always keep V-8 Splash on hand and my kids love the mixed flavor of carrot and berries!
A great snack for you and your kids is all kinds of veggies cut in very thin sticks served with a homemade dip. Carrots, broccoli, zucchini, all kinds of veggies can be used and make a nice tray to keep in the fridge. Let your kids arrange them on a plate in a special design!
If you spend time cooking and eating with your children, you can talk about healthy eating choices and teach them how good food makes their mind and body strong!
That’s such a lot of good ideas! I like to sneak carrots into every thing; muffins, casseroles, etc. Sometimes I can even put a little squash or sweet potato in the muffins too, and the kids will eat veggies raw if I julienne them as fine as I can.
Another trick I like is to let them make faces on their plates with all kinds of healthy finger food, as they really like this and then they are more willing to settle down and eat.