Enouraging Healthy Eating
Parents can be influential in encouraging healthy eating the family, its as simple as setting a good example. Here are some tips to help your family.
Be a good role model
If you're a fussy eater then your child may mimic your behaviour. Lead by example and try to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables.
Involve your children
Children are more likely to eat a meal that they have helped to make. Let your children wash and prepare fruit and vegetables. Involve your children in shopping for the fruit and vegetable. This lets them smell and feel the food and can teach them about different types of fresh food. Growing your own vegetables and fruit is great to education kids about nature and healthy eating. Let them help decide on the menu, measuring ingredients, stirring, washing food and setting the table.
Set up regular habits for eating
Eating meals at a set time ensures that children understand what is expected of them at each meal. Setting a routine might make your meal times easier.
Make sure that the food you serve looks interesting
Spend a few moments on preparation to excite kids about eating. Serve a variety of colours and chop vegetables into different shapes.
Find a food from each food group
If your child doesn't like milk, try offering yoghurt or cheese as alternatives. If your child doesn’t like chewing meat, offer mince meat or fish.
Eat meals at the table, not on the couch
Encourage good eating practices by eating at the kitchen table. Children are less likely to be distracted and more likely to finish their meals. Likewise, make meal time a fun, sharing time and avoid arguments, as children are less likely to try new foods if meal time is stressful. This also aids in supervision, which is important to avoid choking and ensure children safety use utensils.
Be innovative
Help your family eat more fruit and vegetables by adding it to your regular meals:
• Add mushrooms and zucchini to spaghetti bolognaise sauce
• Add fresh grated apples or slices of peaches to their breakfast cereal
• Add corn, peas or carrots to macaroni and cheese
• Add grated zucchini or carrot to beef patties or rissoles (they won’t even notice it!)
• Try different ways to prepare food, for example children might prefer their vegetables raw rather than cooked.
Don’t use food as a reward
Comments such as ‘if you clean your room you can have a piece of chocolate’ might get their room clean but it can increase your child’s preference for that food and links the behaviour with food rewards. Instead of offering lollies or treats, offer stickers or small gifts like yo-yos or Frisbees.
Don’t give up!
Children need a chance to learn, or sometimes re-learn, to enjoy fruit and vegetables. Your job is to make them available. Remember that children may need to see a fruit or vegetable ten or more times before they are ready to try it. Lastly if all else fails, remember children’s tastes do change with age!
Resources and further reading:
- Heart Foundation - Managing Difficult Eaters
- Heart Foundation - Food As A Reward
- Children, Youth and Women's Health Service, South Australia - Fussy eaters
