How To Raise Healthy Eaters?

By Sneha

Friday, July 20, 2012, 14:00 [IST]

Concerned about your child's eating habits? Parents are the only ones who can raise children to be healthy eaters. But it really gets difficult to teach your children healthy eating habits. They hate things that are supposed to be the most healthy. They simply love to feed on all kinds of junk food. Though the job of raising healthy eaters can be a little daunting you can surely make your child learn healthy eating habits if you follow these easy steps.

Tasty Dishes- Your child may simple hate eating vegetables. So why not make food a fun for them. Cook tasty dishes with the usual vegetables and decorate in a nice manner or keep them in attractive bowls. For example you may draw the face of a teddy bear with cream on any dish or may cut vegetables in the shape of a smiley so that your child likes it. And if your child hates having fruits then why not make an all fruit cream salad for them. Trust me they will definitely like it. Choose healthy foods that will give him/her nutrition along with keeping them full.

Snack Time- Children simply love to munch on whatever food they find before them when they are hungry; especially if it is junk food. It becomes very difficult to raise children to be healthy eaters in such cases. But there is no reason to worry any more. Why don't you keep an apple on their table so that whenever they are hungry they can bite into it. Also keep all kinds of fruits, juices and their favourite dishes within reach in the refrigerator or in the kitchen. It's better not to have any unhealthy snack around in the home. Only then you can raise your children to be healthy eaters.

Set An Example- Before you raise your children into healthy eaters you must first set an example before them. Show them that you keep munching on fruits whenever you have time. Children love to replicate the habits of their parents, be it good or bad. So try to live on healthy foods so that even your child learns to do the same and grows up to be a healthy eater.

Give Them Some Liberty- You should never completely cut off their intake of junk food. The more you restrict your child from doing something the more inclined they will be to do it. So take them out on holidays and let them choose to eat what ever they want. You can just regulate the proportions and tell them what is right to consume and what not.

Raise your child to be a healthy eater by putting all these ideas into practice.