Have you ever served your child a plate of steamed vegetables? Did it end well? Unlikely. It isn’t because children don’t like the idea of being healthy, with so much delicious competition in the fast-food world, they simply don’t like the idea of eating healthy.
And while it may seem like you are fighting an unwinnable battle against fast-food giants for your children’s taste buds’ attention, there are a few tips and tricks which you can employ to help ease the transition to healthy eating, such as the ones below.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race!
Never has the saying been more appropriate than introducing your children to healthy eating. When starting, it’s important to remember that you are playing a long game, not a short sprint, with the goal of your child actively seeking out healthy food and making healthy food choices items when are outside the house.
With this in mind, introduce new items slowly, and don’t’ be offended if they aren’t touched at all. For example, simply introduce one new food onto their plate each week. Don’t replace another item for it, simply add it, say nothing, and see how it goes. Then, as the week goes on, begging to use it as a replacement for regular items until it becomes a staple on the plate.
Combat the Flavor
Fast-food restaurants use flavors to entice your child’s taste buds, so why not play by their rules? Instead of simply serving up steamed or blanched vegetables, add some butter to the top of the corn or the peas, or make a gravy which you can add to any vegetables to help make them go down easier and more cooperatively.
Once you have successfully used the flavor to introduce your child to a new vegetable or healthy food options, gradually remove the flavor. You can do this by either leaving it out of the recipe when you’re cooking or you can purposefully forget to bring it to the table as you set it.
Make Eating Healthy Fun
Your youngsters are more likely to finish the items on their healthy plate is their favorite cartoon character is underneath waiting! Check out children’s plates from the Groupon Coupons page for Neiman Marcus and grab some fun plates and cutlery sets solely for your child to use and enjoy. You will be surprised by how quickly a child will eat their greens is it means they can see Peter Rabbit causing monoecious on their plate underneath.
Similarly, if your child is at school, buy a selection of colorful and cartoon filled lunchboxes which you can swap between each day and fill with healthy food items in addition to their regular lunch and snacks.
When it comes to transitioning children to a healthier eating plan, it isn’t going to be an easy or enjoyable activity. However, using the tips above can at least make the task somewhat more pleasant and a lot more successful.
18 Comments
These are really great tips! I especially love the making food fun tip. I noticed that my kids will do/eat almost anything if they are having fun.
Kids can love veggies. Introduce them from the start and its not foreign to them. My kids love veggies more than meat because I never differentiated between the two at meal time. And now that they are older they want food and not junk.
my kids are older now (14 and 11) and i think healthy eating is something we always need to emphasize 🙂 love the ideas (and i have bought a couple of those cool plates myself)
My son would if it were broccoli-weird, I know for a 9 year old. I love steamed veggies if they are easoned.
I have some very picky kids. They will skip meals if they don’t like what is being served. I have gotten to a level of making them taste things. They accept a small bite and sometimes they like it but they are not to excited about that discovery.
Yess! I don’t have kids but I was a kid once lol I can tell you that making food fun is the key. I always finished my plate when whatever I didn’t like was cut in stars format (I love stars).
I totally agree about the character plates and lunchboxes. When my kids were little there were times when they would not eat until they had their “special” plate!
I don’t know how I lucked out, but both of my girls have always eaten just about anything you put in front of them, no matter the color of vegetable it is. These are great tips though for those parents who aren’t so lucky.
I’m lucky to have at least one kids who LIKES to eat healthy. She’s big on fruits and veggies. My son is pickier, so I just buy the stuff he enjoys.
Ahh! You’ve rightly described it as an impossible task. I’ve seen my friends struggle with this, but like you said taking it slow and steady always helps. Cheers!!
My niece and nephews love steamed veggies! It’s easy like a candy!
I’m in 20s, but still got those habits. But, there are tricks that mom uses to sneak in veggies into the diet! Yours are great as well! 🙂
great tips! love the idea of having cartoon cutlery and plates! I used to struggle eating when I was a kid, but whenever my mum pulled out my Minnie Mouse cup, I jugged it all done.
This was a great read! As a mama to someone who has special health needs, her diet is priority for my family and I.
I think I have been blessed. My girl loves almost everything!
I love your post. It has great tips on how to get children to eat healthy. My cousins would definitely love to read this.
I have a 2 and 4 year old, and I know the battle about getting them to eat vegetables consistently! I started putting some in mac & cheese and now they won’t eat it without veggies in it!
I am a new mom and just gave birth to a baby girl… We are vegetarians so I guess it won’t be a much issue with getting my baby eat healthy… I hope it works as I think 😀