15 Tips To Help You Get Your Children To Eat Healthier.

I believe the majority of today’s parents not only struggle with getting their children to eat, but eat somewhat healthy. We’re bombarded with fast food, foods high in fat, sugar and sodium, so the problem is not going away anytime soon. My girls are grown and I don’t have as much control over what they eat.. or so they think, as I’m still the one doing the family grocery and many of the meals prepared at home, is still my handicraft.

Here are 15 tips to help you get your children to eat whatever you want them to eat (in no particular order).

• be the role model – let them see you eating the foods you’d like to see them eat (without complaints)
• cook as a family – not only will you be teaching them a life-skill, you’ll find that by including them in the meal prep, they will appreciate it more
• grow a garden if you can – let them learn where and how food gets to them. It could be something as simple as a herb pot in a window’s ledge. Trips to farms, community gardens etc is a great way to also learn and spend time together
• plan dinners with them. Include them in the meal prep and planning for the week. Post/share the menu for the week so there’s no guessing what’s for dinner or “I don’t like that”
• introduce new foods/ingredients slowly – don’t overwhelm
• hide ingredients – fruits, vegetables and grains can be easily hidden in shakes/smoothies, dips, spreads, soups, stews etc
• cut back on junk food (in the house) but DON’T eliminate them completely.. or they will find other means of getting them
• be sure to stock the fridge with fruits and vegetables – if it’s not there you can’t expect them to eat it
• PREP! Always have a fruit or green salad in the fridge. Cut apples, pear , melons, carrots, celery etc and store in a air-tight bowl in the fridge, so when they decide to snack, it’s a matter of reaching and enjoying
• don’t allow yourself to become a short-order cook for them. Dinner is such and such and I’m not making anything else.
• make breakfast fun and IMPORTANT! smoothies, shakes, yogurt with granola + dried fruit and healthy cereals etc Fun, quick and easy to travel seems to work (grab and go). Eliminate those sugar-heavy cereals
• be positive and applaud – let them know how proud you are that they tried something new or are trying to eat healthy
• include them when you go to the supermarket, farmer’s mark etc – this way they can help decide what comes home
• give the power to them – have them decide some of the weekly meals. Instagram and YouTube are great places for them to get recipe ideas.
• explain what the health benefits are of what they’re eating – big muscles?

Basically you need to lead by example, give the picky eaters some control over what’s prepared, include them in preparing the meals and give them healthy options for snacking and I assure you, you’ll get your child eating whatever you want them to eat.