5 Tips to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy

By Brandon Johnsonn

Kids are notoriously picky eaters. If it doesn't come in a box with a cute cartoon character promoting it, then they probably aren't interested. It's important to get your children to develop healthy eating habits early on, without having to force them to reluctantly choke down something they don't enjoy. In fact, making them eat certain foods could backfire, leading to binge snacking when you're not looking and/or having a bad association with a certain food for the rest of their life.

Here are 5 tips to ensure that your child is eating healthy because they know it's good for them. Teach them early on, and they will continue their nutritious eating habits for the rest of their lives.

Teach - First and foremost, talk to your kids and teach them that eating healthy will help them to "grow up and be big and strong". Just like talks about drugs or smoking, if they know why they should do things a certain way and how it could benefit them, they are much more likely to listen.

Variety - If they've been eating lots of unhealthy foods and snacks until now, ease them into their new eating habits. For the first few weeks, allow them to continue eating a few of their favorite foods, but mix in something nutritious with the same meal. Just mixing in a sliced apple or a bowl of corn with their dinner will help to widen their palette and develop tastes for new foods.

Schedule - Stick to an organized schedule for family meals. If you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time each day, your child will be hungry at the right times and less likely to fill up on snacks and junk food.

Tastes Change - As a child, and even into adulthood, our tastes and flavor preferences can change dramatically. So, just because junior despises the taste of broccoli now, he could develop a taste for it later on. If there's a specific healthy food your child refuses to eat, reintroduce it in new ways every few weeks. In the case of broccoli, for example, try mixing it in with a salad or chicken wrap to overcome the "ewww broccoli" stereotype.

Meal Environment - Try to have all meals in an organized setting with the entire family. If you're all eating and talking at a dining table without television or other distractions, your children will view mealtime as a pleasant social experience, rather than a minor annoyance they endure in between playtimes.

Put these tips to use starting with your next meal, and you can begin building the foundation for your child's healthy lifestyle. And, don't forget to lead by example Mom and Dad!

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