Most parents can agree that getting their kids to eat healthy and nutritious food can feel like an uphill battle most of the time. Kids can be extremely fussy when it comes to food, and picky eaters are notoriously hard to feed and keep happy at the dinner table. This then leads parents into allowing sugary snacks and fast food to pass as main meals and diet staples as they just want their young kids to eat something, anything.
It can be tough, there’s no denying that, but here is a list of suggestions and helpful pointers that could do the trick in getting your young family interested in fruits, vegetables, and home-cooked food.
Get Them Involved
Invite your kids into the kitchen with you, and ask for their help in cooking a delicious meal for you and your family.
In order to spark their interest in doing this, you will need to prepare a visually stimulating dish, and one that tastes amazing. Bright colors are appealing to young eyes, so choose the likes of beetroot, red cabbage, bell peppers, broccoli, and fruits. Consider the likes of a pork shawarma bowl to achieve color and intrigue, a fresh feta and beetroot salad with red chard, or a wholemeal pizza topped with plum tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, sweetcorn, courgette, and red onion.
Let your kids do the fun parts, so get them to safely chop up the vegetables, grate cheese, plate up, and ask them to taste the meal along the way and tell you how they think it is. Give them some control, so allow them to (with your help) season the meal with added garlic, pepper, and salt flakes.
Utilize The Goodness Of Honey
Many young kids have a sweet tooth, there’s no doubt about that. Sweets are hugely popular with kids, so instead of cutting them out of their diets completely, indulge their sweet tooth and prepare healthy snacks and desserts that contain the sugar hit they crave.
Fruits are naturally sweet as they contain fructose, so think about preparing fruit salads with Greek yogurt, nuts and seeds, and an added squeeze of organic and locally produced honey if you can find it. Use honey to sweeten smoothies, and to atop morning oatmeal for example.
Get Them On The Field
Food that is packed with vitamins and nutrients is great fuel for those who exercise and compete in sporting events. If your kids regularly take part in sporting competitions, then tell them the importance of being properly energized and how what they eat can affect their performance.
If your kids aren’t yet part of any sports teams, then encourage them to sign up and be sure to support them. To interest them from the beginning, find out what their favorite soccer or baseball stars eat to stay ahead of their game and suggest that they try them.
For energy-rich snacks, try peanut butter on crackers or on celery sticks, bananas, fruit smoothies with added oats and perhaps some kale – you can always hide small amounts of it if needs be.
yeah getting them involved is the best part. And they should be getting protein rich diet like eggs, beetroot that can also help in improving their metabolism