Parents would usually do anything just to convince their
children to eat healthy food. They can resort to all types
of bribery, warning, or manipulation just to persuade their
child. It would be a lot nicer though if they did not need
to use such heavy-handed tactics.
There are seven quick tips to help you succeed with healthy
eating.
1. Begin as early as possible. It can be harder to do if
you waited longer. The taste buds of children may be ruined
by sweet treats and when that happens, it is really hard to
get them to eat Brussels sprouts and broccoli. You can opt
to choose tip # 4 if you have waited to long.
2. Have a supply of healthy foods inside your home. This
can remove their fondness for one food or food group. It can
be OK for them to have their favorite food, but offering
them alternatives does help in orienting them with different
food tastes. Unhealthy foods are of course out of the
picture. This means no junk food should be allowed. It may
only spell trouble in the long run.
3. Blend the foods that they like with the food they hate.
Here is how you do it: stir fry onions with zucchini,
broccoli, carrots and snow peas rather than giving them only
a platter of steamed broccoli. To make sure that your child
gets some carrots with his or her zucchini, you should slice
it into small pieces.
4. Be firm! If you cannot impose firm-love, your plan
will fail. You will need to inform your child that this is
what you cooked for dinner and that is it. There is no other
available food. If you only have healthy food in your home,
it can work. Since there are no other options and they get
hungry, they have no other choice but to eat what you
served.
5. Keep your kid away from people who may sabotage your
plan. Some people are just too wicked that they find
fulfillment in successfully luring a child to get sweets that
they offer. It can be disappointing that even doctors and
dentists offer my children candy. Tell your kids to politely
decline by saying "No thank you". If the person is a
relative, tell them frankly how you do not like what they
are doing and that you will stop visiting them if they won't
stop.
6. Do not allow your child to watch commercial TV. Yes, that
is right. Commercials on TV provide nutritional education to
95% of our population. And as our children watch kid's
shows, they only see commercials of junk food. This can
influence them a lot on what food they want to eat.
7. Be a good model. This is apparently the most important
tip. Do not expect your child to give up on candy and ice
cream if you can't do it yourself. Convince them to eat
fish, vegetables and whole grains by showing them that you
are eating it as well. At an early age, you will be their
role model, so you might as well be a good one.
