How to incorporate good food habits in your child?
Every kid needs to have a healthy foundation for them to incorporate good food habits into their lifestyle.
Kids learn by example so as parents it is your responsibility to ensure that they have a positive and healthy relationship with food while they are growing up.
Here are some ways listed below to help your child incorporate healthy food habits from a young age:
1- Eat together as a family
When it is time for lunch or dinner, make sure you all sit down in the table and eat your meals together as a family.
During your mealtimes, don’t criticise your child or admonish them.
Encourage them to complete their meal slowly without stressing them out.
2- Grocery shopping
When you go grocery shopping, take your kids with you as well. Try to engage them in a conversation about what fruits they like or what vegetables they would want to eat.
Getting them involved while grocery shopping will ensure that they look forward to meal times.
3- Cooking
Children love watching adults do their work and involving them while you are cooking will ensure they are willing to eat the food being prepared.
Ask them what meals they would like to eat more of and give them certain healthy options to choose from.
4- Snacks
It’s healthy for children to have snacks between meal times.
You can make these snacks as nutritious as possible like giving them cut up fruits or vegetables to snack on and occasionally some chips or chocolates.
5- Tv time
Children who watch TV while eating their meals will not pay attention to their meals.
This will lead to them over eating while they are distracted.
6- Hydration
Reminding your child to drink more water is very important.
Instead of drinking sweetened drinks or sodas you should encourage them to hydrate with water more.
7- Punishments or Rewards
When you are angry on your child and want to punish them don’t withhold food from them in any way.
If you send your child to bed without any dinner it will make them hungry and over eat the next day.
Don’t reward them with chocolates or ice creams too much as it might turn into an addiction.
8- Portion sizes
It is important for a child to understand portion sizes as it will come in handy when they grow up.
Teach them about portion sizes of carbohydrates, vegetables and proteins required by our body.
9- Lead by example
If you want your child to have healthy eating habits then you should lead them by example by eating healthy as well.
Don’t buy junk food and store them in cupboards as it will make them curious to eat it.
10- Regularly scheduled meals
Have a fixed scheduled time for all your family meals and don’t keep changing it.
If there is a fixed time for all the meals it will ensure that they don’t over-snack in between meal times.
11- Distractions
If your child has trouble eating certain food items you can distract them by reading a story out to them.This will keep them occupied and they will complete their meal in no time.
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