6 Tips to Motivate Children to Eat Healthy Food

We all want the best for our kids. Whether it is their health, grades, or career, or personal life, we want them to be happy. For the same, we try to inculcate good habits in them and tell them to be polite, and respectful, and eat healthily.

But you cannot tell your kids to eat the right kind of food. You have to make sure that they choose healthy food when they are kids so that it becomes their lifestyle.

A parent will not always be with their kids. Thus, it is your job to make them self-sufficient and knowledgeable so that they always choose the right thing.

When it comes to eating habits, every kid is different, and they are picky. You mustn’t force your kids to eat anything, because it can have a negative impact leading to a bad relationship with food.

Then how can you make sure that they eat a healthy and balanced diet? Well, by involving them in the process of making food or teaching them the importance of eating an organic and

home-cooked meal. Sure, they are kids, and they will crave sugar and junk food, and you should not deprive them of that, but limit their intake.

As a parent, it is hard to ensure that your kids eat right all the time because they snack a lot which can curb their hunger at dinner or lunchtime. But all this you can manage with a little organization and these tips. Let’s check them out.

1. Have a schedule

The best thing to ensure that kids eat food on time that is healthy and tasty is to have a schedule. You can plan a menu for the entire day or week using Canva schedule maker.

Then print it and paste it on your fridge. It will help you to ensure that you are ready with the snack and food at the right time, and if you are not there, someone else can do this.

Having a schedule for a kid is important as it helps create a routine for them, which makes eating a balanced diet easy. Plan everything from fruits, fluids, veggies, and some treats.

2. Involve the kids

Another way to ensure kids know and eat healthy food is to involve them in the process of making food or picking up groceries.

You can even take their help in doing some plantation and harvesting work. It will show them the process of eating organic food which is fresh and better than junk or packaged food.

3. Cook at home from scratch

If you want children to eat a healthy diet, you need to give them the option to do that. So, that means cooking at home most of the time.

Yes, you get tired, and taking a break and ordering a pizza or something is fine. But try to cook at home from scratch the maximum. When you cook the food yourself, you can control what goes into it.

That means that even a pizza that you make at home can be healthier if you use wheat flour and lots of veggies and low-carb cheese.

Also, you can use tons of vegetables and fruits to create delicious and new dishes that are kid-friendly and introduce them to healthy and delicious dishes.

You can even make fresh cookies or muffins or cakes using healthier options so that their sugar cravings are satisfied without eating too many bad carbs.

4. Encourage discussions

You must indulge in discussions with your kids related to food. Ask their preferences, and why they don’t like a certain food. Ensure that you test them for food allergies and explain to them why they cannot have certain food ever.

Also, when you discuss their choices and listen to them, they will be open to listening to you about the importance of a nutritious diet.
Also, set up a boundary by limiting snack time or which snack should they eat within the limit, and so on. All this will help them become more aware of the right food choices, and gradually they will themselves make better choices.

5. Lead by example

You cannot expect your kids to eat fruits or vegetables if you never eat them yourself. If you want them to avoid eating excess sugar and fast food, you have to make sure that you do the same.

It is a group project, to have meals together, and make sure that if you all eat something unhealthy; you balance it by eating something good later.

6. Motivate them

As I said earlier, you cannot force your kids to eat healthily. It has to come from inside, they need the motivation to do so.

You can only nudge them in the right direction, and ensure that at home you have all healthy options. Also, teach them the importance of eating a fulfilling but balanced diet, something that doesn’t make them sick, and so on.

7. Make healthy snacks

Kids love eating snacks and they won’t always want to eat fruits when they feel snacky. That is why it is important to make some healthy snacks that are delicious as well. Here are some ideas:

⦁ Freeze some grapes, they taste delicious that
⦁ If they can eat fruits, make them a fruits salad
⦁ Make a smoothie for them
⦁ Try making egg muffins or oats banana muffins or chocolate muffins with healthy ingredients for them to snack on
⦁ Try baking some savory items like chips using sweet potato or kale, and give them that.

8. Use fun tools

If your kid is a picky eater or doesn’t seem interested in sitting down and eating, use creative utensils. For instance, you can get a Spiderman plate or a plate which is in color or something like that.

It will make them excited to eat in it. Moreover, you can let the kid pick the toy.

Have patience with your kids, don’t force-feed them veggies or fruits. Use toys or make a play out of food so that they eat healthy while enjoying it. Keep trying and you will succeed.