Helping kids to eat healthy

It’s all well and good to know what your child should be eating, but actually persuading them to change their eating habits and to ditch the bad stuff for the good can be easier said than done.

However, the following tricks and tips are collected from experts and parents alike and have been proven to work in the fight against bad eating habits.

Be realistic

It’s very easy to allow food to become the cause of family battles. If you get worked up when your child rejects new foods or healthier options, she’ll pick up on these negative feelings and will either become stressed herself or will instinctively know how to ‘push your buttons’ on food issues. Stay relaxed and don’t take a rejection of food as a rejection of you or a personal slight on your parenting skills. Just persevere and recognise that sometimes it will work well and sometimes it won’t.

Let them choose

Rather than piling food on to individual plates, put food out in serving bowls and allow your kids to help themselves – with the proviso that they have at least two of the three vegetables on offer. They’re more likely to eat what they put on their own plates rather than what you serve up.

Make meals a social occasion

Eating the same food as your children, at the same time, is a great way to model good habits and to make mealtimes fun.

Kids in the kitchen

Encourage children to help prepare new foods. According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) research suggests they will be more likely to try new foods if they’ve had a hand in their preparation.

Make healthy food appealing

You can jazz up a plain apple or boring meat and two veg to make it look attractive and exciting. Why not offer apple slices with a yoghurt dip or sprinkle some grated cheese over the top of broccoli or cauliflower? Sometimes texture is important to kids, so if they prefer their vegetables crispy and crunchy then let them eat them raw as crudites – either on their own or with hummus, salsa or a yoghurt dip.

Keep it accessible

If you have fruit on display in a fruit bowl, your child is more likely to pick a piece when she is feeling peckish.

Get seasonal

Introduce new fruits and vegetables as they come into season. Summer fruits, such as strawberries, nectarines, peaches and raspberries, and vegetables, such as courgettes and tomatoes, could be exchanged for blackberries, blueberries and plums in the autumn and these then change to grapes and clementines, parsnips and Brussels sprouts in the winter.

Grow your own

To reinforce the seasonal theme, you could always have a crack at growing your own. You don’t need a great deal of space to make a small vegetable patch or you can even use growbags on patios. The most successful varieties in our experience (when the dog doesn’t dig them up!) are potatoes, tomatoes, courgettes, leeks and runner beans.

A little is better than nothing

If your child only likes one or two vegetables, it’s not the end of the world. Keep serving these and occasionally try her with a new vegetable until she extends her repertoire.

Trick them, if necessary

If your child still adamantly refuses anything that resembles a fresh vegetable, then disguise them in food – or trick your child into eating them. All-in-one dishes such as bolognese sauce, shepherd’s pie, hot pot and chilli are all ideal for disguising finely chopped vegetables such as peppers, sweetcorn, carrots and onions. Smooth soups are another great way of disguising fresh, healthy ingredients and kids love them.