Amazing Ways to Ensure Nutrition in Kids

BY THABITHA DAVID · PUBLISHED MAY 31, 2020 · UPDATED OCTOBER 19, 2020

Nutrition in kids

Topics

• How to develop healthy food eating habits and ensure nutrition in kids
• Tips to Parents to help you get your family embrace nutrition
• Conclusion

Tips to develop healthy food eating habits there by building nutrition in kids

Habit is a practice of a certain action that is hard to give up.

Practicing healthy food habits should be done daily until it becomes harder to give up.

Changing the environment around you will be the first task of having a healthy diet.

This can be started small, such as having a glass of water next to your bed, so you can drink it first thing in the morning. This is seen as a small and simple thing to do, but its benefits are immense.

Here are some simple healthy food eating habits you can practice one by one or all at once.

• Keep more healthy foods at your home and work. This includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. It is better to add healthy food to your diet rather than taking unhealthy food away. This will also guide your family to choose healthy foods.
• Eat at least one family meal together. Children imitate what they see. When you sit with your kid and eat together, they get to see what you eat and how you eat. They imitate the same. Example eating vegetable hey will not hey be such a difficult task for a kid when they see the whole family enjoy and eat it.
• Do not rush eating meals. It is not only puts the kid into strain stress and pressure but also compromises on the intake the kid has.
• Teach children to identify when they are hungry and when they are full. And when it is the right time to stop eating. This will help them to avoid overeating. Which is the primary cause for many obesity and health related issues.
• One of the main and proven technique is to eat slowly so that the brain can register when the tummy is full and signal the child to stop eating. They say it takes around 15 minutes for the brain to register that the stomach has had enough.
• Avoid the habit of eating sitting in front of a television or watching something on a laptop or a tab. while this might appear beneficial since the kid will remain quiet. If the kid’s brain is engaged and engrossed in other activity that it will not register what the kid is eating or how much. This will create a very unhealthy habits in the kid in the long run and take away valuable time the kid can otherwise spend with family.

Few more tips..

• Do not delay your meals. Have a specific time for them. Delaying will make you hungrier and thus, you will tend to eat more than what is required. Also, when you eat on time your body clock gets adjusted to the time and they will secrete the digestive juices needed to observe all the nutrients at the right time. Plus, kids some more receptive to eat when they are hungry than when they are not. So, there will be less resistance from your kid and low drama.
• Encourage kids to drink water. Have water at reach when kids sit for food. Teach them to choose water when they have the urge to have drinks with high sugars.

Note and Tips to Parents to help you get your family embrace nutrition

Nutrition is one of those aspects of life which are not taught in school. So, every concerned parent needs to know what their children should consume.

Good nutrition is the key foundation of a healthy lifestyle. Making the right food choices for you and your family will immensely contribute to a happy and healthy family. And when you eat together as a family you will lead by example. Read our article 15 Benefits of Eating together as a Family to know more.

Meal Portion:

You will also get to know the type of food your kid likes and once. Hey this will help you plan better for your child.

Force Feeding your child

This will only stress them out and cause food aversions. Such food aversions in the long run will become deter mental because your child. As an adult your child will subconsciously avoid choosing these healthy foods.

Stock your home with healthy snacks

Plan Meals and Snacks in Advance

E.g.: By looking at a week schedule all the main nutrients from the three main food group that you would be providing through your means and snacks to your kid. You can make changes to make it balanced.

This also will not put undue pressure on you to wake up every day and try to think of what to cook what is available what is not.

You can involve your family in this activity as this would get not only buy in from them but also hey make them feel responsible to eat the food that they have suggested.

Cultivate a habit of cooking healthy meals

Involve kids in Food Preparation

Let your kid help you in preparing their meal. Kids tend to be more receptive to food that they have participated in preparing. Also, while preparing the meal it gives you an opportunity to talk to your kid about the nutrient value of that meal and how it would help them grow strong muscles.

Let Kids help you with grocery list

Take them along with you when you go for shopping. This will make them familiarised with healthy food ingredients. This will go a long way in their life when they must do the same activity without your guidance.

Do not brand your food

E.g. “I will give you ice-cream if you finish your sprouts”. What you are subconsciously telling your child is that ice cream is nice to have, and sprouts are terrible.

While yes, I agree your intention is right to make sure your child eats sprouts. But ask your self will this child when it grows big pick up sprouts over ice-cream when both are at their disposal?

Video Time: An expert food pyramid for kids

Conclusion:

Asking your kid to eat vegetables when you have a burger will not be accepted by your child. Same goes with other things like asking your child to eat his meal when you skip it. Asking him to eat slowly when you gulp down your meal. Or when you forbid TV time during meals and you watch when you eat.

So be a role model and teach them practically the choices that they need to make and follow to have a healthy lifestyle.

Also do not forget to teach kids about nutrition. It is as important as breathing oxygen. When we teach children about nutrition, we are teaching them to make healthy choices. These healthy choices will one day turnout to be lifesavers for children.

When we built good eating habits hey in our children from a very young age yeah surely setting the children up for a strong and healthy future.

We hope this blog how to build nutrition in kids along with nutrition tips for your kid has been helpful to you. If so, show us love by sharing it with your friends and loved ones so together we can make the world a better place one step at a time.

If you have any other idea or tip to build nutrition in kids. Do share with us in your comments. This will help us to make our blog better and above all your knowledge will benefit other parents also positively.

God Bless!!