Tips to get Kids to eat Healthier

1. Lead by example. If you are making healthy food choices and offering them to your children they are much more likely to follow suit.
2. They won’t starve: Ensure the food they eat isn’t just ‘kids food’ in other words your plate and theirs looks the same, just smaller. They may turn their noses up the first few times, but if nothing is offered in place of it you will surprised how a child will come round. A hungry child becomes a lot less fussy, believe me it works!
3. Educate yourself: Get to know what healthy eating is. It’s very hard to ensure your children are getting the right food if you don’t know yourself. There are lots of websites and forums which give you information, but a good rule of thumb is, the closer the food is to it’s original state (e.g an apple is in it’s original state, processed square chicken nuggets look nothing like a chicken!) the better it is for you. Processed, ready meals – even when labelled ‘low fat’ or ‘healthy’ are usually very far removed from this. These should be used sparingly if at all. Making food from scratch is not as time consuming as people think. You can email me at jillskitchen 2012@gmail.com for some great family favourites meal recipes, that are budget conscious and easy to do (they also freeze great so you can be extra prepared!)
4. Get them involved. Don’t panic, but including children in shopping trips to supermarkets has proven to get them more interested in the food they consume.You can choose age appropriate tasks for little ones. If they are sitting in the trolley, hand them the produce naming it as you do and let them put it in the trolley..best not to do this with eggs and such like! Older kids can have their own shopping lists and tick off items as they go or it can even be a game to see who completes their list first. Get kids to help unpack bags at home and then set them age appropriate tasks to help with prep too.
5. Grow your own. Studies have shown and my experience in my home and cooking classes has bore fruit(excuse the pun!) to this, when children are involved in growing fruits and vegetables there is a better chance that they will then be interested in eating it. Whether you have a balcony or an acre plot grow your own has become a lot easier in the past few years. I have found the people at www.quickcrop.ie extremely knowledgeable and helpful and they have some pretty funky tools on their website that make it easy even for someone like me!
6. Work with their tastes. If you and your family lean towards sweeter items then work with rather against this by purchasing (or growing) some sweeter produce—such as strawberries, sweet peas, corn, oranges and similar foods—to make this trait work in your favor.
7. Make it a game. There are arguments for and against this, but if you’ve ever dealt with a fussy eater you’ll try anything and in the scale of things this isn’t a bad one. Let children arrange fruits in snacks into faces or animals and engage their creative side.
8. Discerning palates: Children have double the taste buds that adults have so they can be more susceptible to subtle tastes or changes in food. But this is not a reason to shy away from mild spices or herbs and seasoning. Each child is different and some will find the texture of new food are what turns them off. Continue offering a child something they have turned their nose up at in the past, a good way of doing this is offering it to them when a friend is over, competiveness amongst their peers can be a powerful tool!
9. Positive Reinforcement: Focus on using positive talk around food choices. E.g tasting new foods, even if they don’t eat them is something to be encouraged.
10. Don’t give up. It can be a battle, but it’s one worth winning. Keep at it, and soon your family will be asking for seconds!