Encouraging your children to eat well can sometimes be an uphill battle. Anyone who has said eat your green, or no desert until your main is finished knows this struggle well. At times it’s tempting to let them eat what they want, as at least they’re eating something, but this can be a bad strategy if it is ongoing. The good news is that there are a lot of methods to get your kids to eat better. To help you manage the impossible, here are a few words of advice:
Lead By Example
Children learn by imitation, and if you are constantly eating fast foods, cakes, chocolate sweets, and all the bad things, then your children will too. You need to make good choices at the supermarket and let your kids see you eating apples and bananas and cooking up a storm. Remember, you are on show when it comes to your children. Everything you do is watched and learned. So, do the right thing, and your life will be easier.
Offer Choice
Offering your children choices is a great way to give them a little independence and encourage healthy foods. You could let them choose between a banana or apple, or carrots sticks with hummus and cucumber sticks, etc. The more choice you give them the more excited they will be to try new things. You may well fool them into eating more healthily this way. At the supermarket, you could give them free rein to choose fruit and vegetables. The more strange and exotic the veg the better. You can all have some fun funding a recipe around it, and get the kids in the kitchen helping you out. If they choose the vegetable, they may be more likely to eat the meal that contains it.
Experiment With Recipes
Always preparing the same meals that your kids already know they don’t like is a great way to discourage them from eating well. If you want to get them to eat better, then experiment in the kitchen. Try new recipes and discover new ways of cooking. Remember, this is great for you too. It doesn’t always have to be so obviously healthy. You could try introducing them to foods like garlic by trying something like garlic butter rice. The greater the variety of dishes you make, the more you will discover about what your kids will eat easily and what they will refuse. Perhaps they are more than willing to eat those carrots if they are in a different form. So, experiment and widen your range of dishes.
Smarty Snacks
Let’s face it kids love snacks, so you need to find a way to offer them snacks that are healthier. You cannot rely on crisps and chocolate all the time. The good news is that there are a range of choices out there these days, from packets of grapes to nuts and health food bars. Perhaps you could learn to cook a few great snacks. This is a get way to get the kids into cooking too.
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