Teaching kids to eat healthy foods

Healthy eating amongst kids in a learned behavior. They are not intuitive. So what your children learn to eat at home early in life sticks with them well into adulthood.

Sixteen years ago, when my son was born, I have to admit that I was not a fan of meal time. As an infant he was always hungry and the breast or bottle didn’t seem to satisfy his hunger. The next stage was baby food. I remember the challenge as the smell and texture from the jars led him to turn away. I found that smoothies were an easy way for him to ingest vitamins and minerals but I feared that the liquid diet wasn’t the best choice I was making. As he became a toddler, he never sat still at the table and was more interested in eating on the go. I remember making a joke that he was a “real New Yorker”, always eating on the run as he multi-tasked. I have to admit that I loved getting together for play dates around meal time as he copied what his playmates ate. Whew, that seemed to make my life a bit easier. But in my own food kitchen the battle was waged and I wanted to throw my hands up in aggravation!

Lucky for me, I didn’t stay in this stage of frustration for too long! I started reading books and talking to experts (my mom, my pediatrician and other moms) and I quickly made a radical changes.

I will gladly share with you my simple findings and I hope that this helps you or other parents you know.

Did you know that current research suggests that by age two children will have developed food preferences that will be with them for their entire lives? To a large extent, these food preferences are shaped and molded by their mothers. If a mother dislikes a vegetable and therefore doesn't serve it to her children, they will not learn to like it or eat it. So, right from the beginning, put aside your differences and expose your children to everything! 

Let’s start with the first meal of the day: BREAKFAST. I believe that it is the most important meal of the day. It gets your child off on the right foot. If they don’t eat in the morning they’ll be tired and unable to concentrate in school before lunch. It’s essential that children jumpstart their metabolism in the morning so their bodies don’t enter starvation mode, which might later cause them to experience difficulty maintaining a healthy body weight. However, some children need to practice eating breakfast. I recommend starting small and working to a bigger meal if you’re having trouble getting your child to eat breakfast. Serve real food. Making a pot of oatmeal is every bit as easy as pouring a bowl of cold cereal. It takes no more than five minutes to cook a bowl of oatmeal, and your children will benefit from this breakfast all day long. Children simply perform better after eating oatmeal than just about any other breakfast you could serve. The glucose contained in the oatmeal has been found to boost memory and attention. Other beneficial breakfasts include whole-grain breads, eggs, apples, oranges, grapefruit berries, grapes, yogurt, milk, and bran cereal.

Trust your child. If she says she is not hungry, respect her wishes. If she is hungry, she will ask for food. Let them ASK for food. Do not force your child to eat and as hard as it may be don’t yell at your child to eat their meal. This will not be productive. If you find yourself with a picky eater, institute the one bite rule. In this way, kids have to try foods that many times they only think they don't like. There have been studies that conclude that it takes seven attempts with a new food for a child to like it and accept it. Do not get into the habit of making separate food for the kids. Ever find yourself making one meal for the adults in the house and another for the kids — or even one for each kid? Children take their time warming up to new things and if you keep giving them the old standbys they’re not going to branch out and explore new foods. Be patient. It is counterproductive, and it puts tremendous strain on you to cook double or triple meals everyday. Make only one meal that the whole family partakes from. Make the same dinner for everyone in the family while making sure to put some foods on the plate that your children like — then add something new. If they don’t touch it, don’t worry about it, and definitely don’t make an argument out of it.Try again the next week and again the following week. Eventually they’ll surprise you by at least tasting that new food.

Strive to add berries and greens to as many food choices as possible. Berries contain many beneficial antioxidants. Greens must be eaten often and are very important part of everyone's healthy diet. Fruits and salads are served with every meal at my table and should be at yours too! If there is any left over it’s a great snack for another time!

Another great way to teach kids healthy eating is to involve them in cooking and kitchen preparation. Encourage them to help you. This will empower them and make them feel like they have some control in what they want to eat. Even though it will create more mess, it will encourage them and teach lifelong kitchen skills. Young children can help make salads and can help create soups. Let them help you decide what healthy dish to prepare. Look through cookbooks, family recipes or online cooking websites and allow them to help you shop in the grocery store or famers market.

Pack healthy lunches and snacks and try to make them interesting. Dried fruits and nuts and seeds are great for lunches, as well as yogurt and cubes of cheese with different chopped vegetables. I remember that someone once told me to use a cookie cutter to make fun shapes out of sandwiches. I tried this, never coming out as pretty as the pictures in the glossy magazines but nevertheless allowed my kids to be creative in the kitchen and in their own food prep!

Kids don’t need frozen chicken nuggets, french fries, macaroni and cheese, and pizza to keep them happy. Highly processed foods like these are loaded with chemicals, synthetic fats, additives, artificial sweeteners, and food colorings. And even a three-year-old can grasp why sodas aren’t good for you and why we don’t eat foods with lots of fat every day at every meal. Teach children to avoid junk food by your own good example. People who are addicted to junk food will lead miserable lives filled with disease. Impart an enthusiasm for real foods to your children. Do everything you can to eliminate food additives from your children's diet. It has been proven that artificial colors and flavors negatively affect children's behavior. Sodium benzoate, a commonly used preservative, has been found to increase hyperactivity in small children. This behavior includes inattention, impulsivity, and over activity. The reality is that you can't keep heavily processed foods out of their diets forever, but the longer you limit exposure while instilling healthy eating habits, the more likely your children will be to make better choices when left to their own devices.

Lastly, I believe in making mealtime special. First and foremost, sit down and enjoy your food. Take time to savor flavors. Children should never eat while walking around. I believe that it is important for the family that everyone sit down to eat and talk together. Make a ritual out of dinner and give everyone a special task — maybe even let each child have one night a week to plan and help make dinner. Have the kids set the table. Cloth napkins and real glasses set a more formal tone and are better for the environment. Candles aren’t just for adult dining — they can set a calming tone for the meal and will show kids that mealtime is special.