Today’s children and families have hectic schedules. These factors make it difficult to eat cooked meals nearly every day. Many children’s meals consist mostly of convenience, fast foods, and takeaway meals. These foods, however, can wreak havoc on your child’s health and development. Some of the issues that poor nutrition brings can last throughout adulthood. They can potentially turn into life-threatening illnesses.
Parents have a huge role in helping their children adopt healthy life choices that will benefit them in the coming years. However, this is easier said than done. We understand that you don’t have all the solutions as a parent.
You, like many others, may find it difficult to adopt and maintain a healthier lifestyle of your own. One strategy to win this dual battle is to adopt healthy living practices with your partner.
Opting For Healthier Nutrition and Lifestyle for Your Kids
A healthy diet offers several advantages for children. Here are some of them:
- Maintain optimal and steady energy levels.
- Improve their cognitive abilities.
- Their emotions are evened out.
- Assist them in maintaining healthy body weight.
- Assist in the prevention of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and ADHD.
Furthermore, eating a balanced diet and concentrating on nutrition are two of the easiest and most effective approaches to avoid disease. Many chronic illnesses can be avoided by eating well. Obesity, cardiovascular disease, increased blood pressure, as well as type 2 diabetes, are some of the diseases that can be prevented with a balanced healthy diet. Approximately half of the human population suffers from one or more of these ailments.
If your kids are picky eaters and give you a hard time when it comes to eating healthy meals, there are multivitamins for kids widely available that can supplement any nutritional deficiencies. Talk to your doctor before you start any supplements for your kids.
If you establish healthy habits as a kid, they are more inclined to stick with you. That is why you must instill excellent habits in your children as early as possible. It will assist them in sticking to their dietary habits well into their adult lives and aid in avoiding chronic diseases such as those outlined above.
A Path to Better Health
You can encourage and help your children to eat properly in a variety of ways. They are as follows:
Begin with a Good Breakfast
Your youngster should start their day off well by eating a well-balanced breakfast that includes protein. Protein helps to feel full for extended periods. It can even aid in weight loss for teens.
Mornings may be stressful. For a nutritious on-the-go breakfast, consider a few of these:
- One whole-wheat toast with eggs.
- Greek Yogurt.
- Sugar-free peanut butter on whole-wheat toast.
- Hard-boiled eggs, bread, and an apple or any fruit of their choice.
The prolonged pandemic shutdowns could have caused some bad sleeping habits for your children. Poor sleep can heavily affect eating habits as well. Reopening schools will mean returning to the familiar pattern of getting up early nearly every day. The return of the morning rush may cause them to skip breakfast altogether.
Going to school without breakfast will affect their cognitive abilities and the mental alertness that they need for school. Moreover, skipping breakfast may lead to opting for unhealthy lunch options or sugary snacks throughout the day. So, you must establish a healthy breakfast routine and give them a healthy whole foods meal before they head out the door.
Make Family Meals a Priority Every Day
It is necessary to sit down for a meal as a family to establish healthy eating habits. But it’s much more than just sharing a meal. Mealtimes provide an opportunity to bond and reconnect with your children after a long day of absence from each other.
Routine is beneficial to children. They feel safer knowing they eat supper or any other meals alongside their family regularly.
Take the time to ask them about their day and what is going on in their lives. Talk to them about your day. These rituals help strengthen your bond with your children.
And you can also then manage what they eat for dinner. Make them nutritious meals prepared at home as much as possible.
Use this opportunity to keep an eye on what they consume and how they consume it. Check and see if there’s something you can do to promote healthier habits.
Involve the Kids
The best way to instill good eating habits is to involve the children in the process. Bring them along for grocery shopping, and get them involved in meal prep. Teach children to read a nutrition label so that they can make informed decisions about the things they eat.
Getting them involved in meal preps at a young age will help them develop a healthy relationship with food. As they learn what whole foods and simple ingredients look like and how to use them, they will start to relate to what they put in their bodies and learn about nutrition and its connection to good health.
Planting a garden is yet another enjoyable method to include your young ones. Children will learn vital lessons by growing some of their favorite fruits, veggies, and herbs. It’s rewarding to plant, cultivate, and harvest your organic produce. It may be a rewarding experience for both kids and adults.
Make Tiny Changes To Your Diet to Eat Healthier Foods
You don’t have to rethink your whole diet. Simply replace a few harmful things in your refrigerator or pantry with healthier options. Gradually increase your intake until you’ve acquired healthy eating habits. Swaps that are simple to make include:
- Whole milk to low-fat milk
- Ice cream to homemade smoothies or frozen yogurts
- White bread to whole wheat or whole grain bread
- Soda to water or flavored sparkling water
- Butter to olive oil
- Potato chips to baked chips or nuts
- Cream-based salad dressings or pasta sauce to oil-based dressings or vegetable-based pasta sauce
Sugar Consumption Should be Limited
Sugar is an essential food group that can provide a lot of energy for our metabolic functions.
However, several studies in health and nutrition are showing the link between high sugar diets and chronic diseases and obesity. Consuming too much sugar can create insulin resistance and raise blood glucose levels. Excess glucose in the blood eventually leads the body to store what it doesn’t need into fats.
Natural sugars are present in almost all foods, from fruits, carbs, vegetables, etc. Processed refined sugars are hidden in pretty much any packaged foods and beverages. Sugar is also added to a lot of prepared meals at the grocery store or restaurants.
Sugar is frequently added to meals that we would not expect to contain sugar. Bread, canned soups and vegetables, sauces, frozen dinners, and fast food are all examples. We must limit or avoid our consumption of certain items for optimal health.
Here are some suggestions for cutting sugar from your and your kid’s meals.
- Instead of banning sugary treats, manage the portions they consume. It is okay to indulge in a sugary treat now and then, but overconsumption daily is what will cause health issues. So, instead of banning sugary treats, manage how much they consume. Banning candy or pastries from the household will only lead them to crave it more.
- Make changes to the recipes. Many dishes may be made with less sugar and taste just as wonderful. See how it turns out if you cut the quantity of added sugar in half.
- Sugary beverages should be avoided.
- Make as many meals from scratch as possible (instead of relying on pre-packaged/prepared meals).
Smarten up About Healthy Fats
Fats that are good for us are an important element of our diet. It assists us in achieving satiety, and it is an essential component in building cells and growth. They’re also good for our brains, as they improve memory and cognitive abilities. The goal is to ensure that your children consume the proper fats in the right amounts.
Unsaturated fats are good for you. These include:
- Olive oil
- Avocados
- Nuts (almonds or pecans)
- Seeds are monounsaturated (pumpkin or sesame).
- Flaxseed
- Walnuts
- Omega-3 fatty acids present in salmon and sardines are polyunsaturated.
Trans fats are terrible for you. These can be found in the following:
- Veggie shortening
- Margarine
- Deep-fried foods.
- Sweet baked products
- “Partially hydrogenated” vegetable oils are used in packaged foods
- Chips, biscuits, and snack foods are examples of packaged goods
Help them pick Fruits and Vegetables as Snacks.
To make fruits and vegetables more attractive, start by eliminating or limiting harmful sugary and salty foods at home. For example, your kid may want to have fries as a snack; however, if there are any fries at home, they will be more inclined to pick carrot sticks with hummus as a salty treat instead.
Then after, try a few of the following suggestions:
- Always have fresh fruit at home and easily accessible for them to reach for a snack. Keep the entire fruit on display for your youngster to view. On the dining table, a dish of apples and bananas acts as a recall. Whole fruit is also a quick and easy bite to grab just on the way out of the house. This is especially useful for older youngsters.
- Allow children to make their own decisions. Allow your kid to choose whatever fruits and vegetables seem appealing to them when they come with you for grocery shopping.
- Vegetables can be hidden in other foods. If you conceal veggies in other foods, your kid will never realize he or she is consuming them. It’s simple to get them in by shredding them and adding them. Vegetables like zucchini and carrots may be shredded or grated and used in muffins, bread, cakes, soups, pasta sauce, meatloaf, and casseroles.
Things to Keep in Mind While You Plan a Healthier Nutrition and Lifestyle for Your Kid
There are a plethora of suggestions for getting your youngster to consume nutrition-dense foods. Above all, encouraging healthy behaviors is the greatest method to assist your child with nourishment.
Become a role model for others. Kids eat in the same way that you do. If you follow these guidelines, your kid will become more likely to do so as well.
Start early! Food preferences and tastes emerge very early in childhood. Introduce your child to a variety of foods from an early age and maintain them as they get older. Concentrate on your whole diet. Concentrate on eating habits rather than specific meals. Pick whole foods with simple ingredients, and make from scratch as much as possible.
Bon Apetit!
