Good Parenting

When you have children, one of the biggest challenges is making sure that your child eats all of the food that he or she needs to grow in a healthy way. Healthy eating is important from birth! If your child doe not get the right nutrients in his or her food, it is possible that their growth will be stunted or that they will become ill. However, if you have a child, then you also know that getting your young one to eat healthy foods is many times met with resistance. While it is easy to get a child to enjoy chocolate cake, broccoli is another issue! Here are some tricks and tips to helping your child get all the nutrients they need.

A great way to teach your children new skills as well as get them to eat healthy food is to get them to help you in the kitchen. Children as young as three and four love to help with simple things like stirring and pouring, while older children can learn to crack eggs, measure ingredients, and teens can even help to cut vegetables and cook entire meals. When a child sees what is going into food, he or she will be more likely to eat it. Children also will be more likely eat foods that they help to cook because they are proud of their accomplishments.

Another great way to get a child to eat healthy foods is to look for kid-friendly options. For example, if your child is not getting enough dairy foods, low-fat string cheese is a healthy snack option that is also very fun to eat! You can also find crackers that come in kid-friendly shapes and finger foods.

When my children were small, I didnÂ’t want them to be taken care of by someone else. So what did I do? I started my own home day care and cared for children in my own home with my own children. Presto, instant playmates for my kids! It was great! However, since my own children were never picky about what they ate, I was in for a HUGE surprise when it came to the eating habits of children that I took care of!

One wouldnÂ’t eat ANY vegetables, one had no clue what fresh fruit was (applesauce was about it!), and others didnÂ’t know what meat was unless it came in the form of a hotdog or a hamburger! Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me.

IÂ’m a baker. Always will be; no doubt about it. I used baking to start getting the kids to like vegetables first. Hey, what kid wonÂ’t eat a fresh pizza where they just spent time rolling out dough (that THEY helped measure and stir) (YES, IT WAS A MESS!), pouring sauce onto and spreading out, shredding cheese, and THEN placing all of those pretty colored vegetables on and peaking through the oven window to watch it bubble! That was a favorite from the beginning.

Spaghetti sauce was another. ALL kids love spaghetti! So far, I havenÂ’t met one that didnÂ’t, so I started doctoring up the sauce. Hey, puree a package of mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and onions, plop them into the sauce and simmer. . . VOILA! LOTS of vegetables that the kids had no idea they were eating! (Their parents were all quite impressed with that one!)

Not used to fruit? How about a tea party? Place smal blanket/quilt on floor, have kids help you place paper/plastic plates, napkins, and cups in saucers on each corner of the quilt. Cut up wedges of apples, pears, maybe some cantaloupe slices, place a small pile of diced cheese next to the fruit, add a few saltine crackers, fill up tea cups with milk or fruit juice, and enjoy watching the faces of the kids while they have a “tea party”. Clean up is a breeze, just flap the quilt in the wind outside to get rid of any crumbs! They LOVE it and I can almost guarantee that the kids are going to be gobbling up whatever is in that plate, no matter what it is!

If you are extremely worried about your child getting enough of the proper nutrients they need for daily life, you can also find vitamin supplements to help your childÂ’s diet. There are a few quality brands that come in premeasured gel packs which ensure your child gets all the nutritional supplements absorbed in their bodies and that also taste great. There are also enriched foods you can give to your child in order to make sure they get all of the nutrients they need.

The bottom line is that you need to make sure that your child is staying safe and healthy, no matter how picky they may be. If your child refuses to eat a specific food, he or she probably simply does not like that food, and you should provide another choice. However, if he or she is refusing most foods, you must be firm about eating nutritious foods. Talk to your pediatrician in order to find out proportions and types of foods that your child should be eating.

Read more

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 6:06 pm and is filed under Good Parenting.