Children Eating Healthy: Healthy Eating Children

Healthy Eating Kids

Children eating healthy takes a parent’s responsibility. Are you making sure that your child is eating three to five healthy meals a day? Some children are fussy eaters, which makes it difficult to get them to eat anything remotely healthy. But pampering children with only the food they want and like can be detrimental to their health.

One of the things that makes it hard for children to eat healthy is the fact that their parents don't eat healthy to begin with. Perhaps they didn't eat healthy when they were growing up too. But if this is the case, then it's time for them to make a change as well. It's hard to tell your kids to eat healthier or better than what they have been eating when they see their parents eating the type of food they want their kids to stay away from. Parents must lead by example.

Fresh Fruit Over Junk Food

Here is the typical scenario. Your child comes home from school and passes up the fruit bowl with fresh apples, oranges, and pears for the denatured pop tart and potato chips. These foods do not provide the growing child with the nutrition and energy he or she needs.

It is ok to eat some foods such as these once in awhile, but fruit should be eaten first before anything else. That’s because fruit provides the body with the antioxidants to protect the child against illness.

Parents should keep in mind that perhaps if the potato chips and pop tarts were not around, then maybe their children would eat fruit and whole grain toast with peanut butter instead of junk food.

I have talked to children about their eating habits. And in every single instance, the children who eats the healthiest foods do so because the parents cook healthy fare. Plus, they don’t shop for junk food items.

Children who don’t have access to junk food will eat everything on their dinner plate. The reason why is because as one teenage boy responded to me, “There is nothing else to eat!”

Are we giving our children too many choices? They open the pantry and grab for the cookies, pop tarts and potato chips. They open the refrigerator and grab a can of soda that is so inviting to the eyes and taste buds. Are kids really going to drink water when there is soda pop in the fridge?

Are Your Children Eating Healthy?

You can get your children eating healthy by offering healthier food choices. Have healthy snacks available to them when they come home from school, such as granola, whole wheat breads, humus spread, peanut butter, fruit smoothies, and dried fruit and nut mixes, just to name a few.

Get rid of the sugary sweets, cola drinks, and potato chips. If you pamper your children’s taste buds with the wrong foods when they are young, you both will regret it later on down the road with poor eating habits and ill health. And remember that good healthy eating habits start when the child is a toddler.