Getting the right food into your kids’ mouths, let alone getting them to eat at all, is about as difficult as getting them out of a swimming pool on a hot summer day!
Of course, being a parent, you have a basic idea of what’s nutritionally sound for your kids and what’s not. The challenge is giving them only the best nutrient-dense foods for their early development needs. Some great tips to help your child eat right. Children learn how to eat healthy food in everyday routine at preschool, and kindergarten for kids.
“Nutrition for kids is based on the same ideas as nutrition for adults. Everyone needs the same types of things, such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein and fat. These are called nutrients. Children need different amounts of specific nutrients at different ages.”
– Mayo Clinic Staff
Table of Contents
1. 10 Tips to Encourage Your Kids to Eat Healthily
2. Nutritious Plate- 10 Best Healthy Foods for Kids
3. Conclusion
10 Tips to Encourage Your Kids to Eat Healthily
- Eat natural
Emphasise eating more ‘natural’ than ‘processed’ foods.
- Food Disguising
Mix healthy foods your children don’t like with those they love. Like, they were mashing carrots along with potatoes!
- Eat Less Outside
Have more meals at home to avoid excess sugars and fats.
- Get them involved
Help them shop alongside you and read ‘labels.’
- Limit portion sizes
This will go a long way in preventing chronic overeating.
- Be a Role Model
Children often model the behaviour of their parents, therefore, it is essential to lead by example and make healthy food choices yourself.
- Make Mealtime Enjoyable
Create enjoyable and memorable experiences around mealtime by using colourful plates, cutting interesting shapes of foods, or involving children in meal preparation.
- Guide Children to Eat Mindfully
Teach children to be mindful when they eat their food, savouring each bite.
- Keep Healthy Snacks
Introduce a variety of healthy snacks to your children such as dry fruits, cereals, vegetables, whole-grain crackers, and yoghourt.
- Restrict Sugary Drinks
It is important for parents to ensure children drink water, milk, or unsweetened beverages instead of sugary drinks like soda and fruit juices.
Nutritious Plate- 10 Best Healthy Foods for Kids
You are selectively zoning in on just the right foods to boost your children’s health.
1. Eggs
While eggs might have gotten a bad rap in the past, most nutrition experts have long since put those fears to rest. Eggs are indeed one of the best healthy foods for kids! There’s a common myth that eggs are rotten owing to their high cholesterol. The truth is, unlike other foods, they hardly raise cholesterol levels. Further, eggs are easily available and one of the affordable healthy foods for kids. Exploring various options for kids healthy food is both educational and nutritious for your kids.
Benefits: A great source of protein, eggs are also infused with iron and other vitamins and minerals.
Tip: Have an egg every other day. Keep it fun by tossing in different varieties like an omelette, sunny side up, scrambled eggs…
2. Beans
Beans are one of the locally available healthy foods for kids. Jack indeed got ‘magic’ beans when he went up that beanstalk! When you’re making food at home for your children, you want to use these.
Benefits: Beans are packed with proteins and fibre that make your kids feel full for longer. Also, they are cheap and take little time to prepare.
Tip: If your kid doesn’t fancy beans and rice, make a quesadilla for them instead.
3. Bananas
Bananas are one of the healthy foods for kids you want to take advantage of when creating the perfect diet for your kids.
Benefits: Bananas are laced with vitamin B6, dietary fibre, calcium, potassium, copper, and manganese. Besides, there’s a plethora of recipes you can choose from, from porridge to milkshakes.
Tip: Have your kids ‘Go bananas’ by including bananas in their pancake recipes if they find eating plain bananas boring.
Did you know which is the best healthy food for kids?
4. Avocado
Avocados are also one of the best healthy foods for kids. Certainly the superfood of the twenty-first century, this food is excellent for children who are fussy eaters.
Benefits: Eating avocado is one of the best ways to incorporate healthy fats into your child’s diet. They are high in monounsaturated fats that decrease inflammation and keep cholesterol levels healthy.
Tip: There’s versatility in the way you eat avocado! You can mash it and eat it with a spoon like Nutella or smear it on toast. Remember, you can make some pretty fantastic avocado pesto pasta!
5. Seeds and Nuts
Seeds and nuts are one of the best foods for kids. These are a great choice if you’re looking to give your child a quick snack (and you will have to do that occasionally).
Benefits: Seeds and nuts contain many phytochemicals, fibre, and micronutrients and are one of the best kids healthy food.
Tip: If your child doesn’t like these plain, include flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, almonds, etc., in mouth-watering recipes that use them, like a chia seed pudding or almond berry smoothie!
6. Yogurt
Now, who doesn’t like frozen yoghourt? This amazingly healthy food for kids is excellent for those in-between snacks.Yogurt is tasty and also one of the best food for kids.
Benefits: Yogurt is packed with protein. It is also rich in vitamin D, which many kids lack, and probiotics (good bacteria responsible for a healthy gut).
Tip: Most flavoured yoghurts have added sugar. The safest bet is plain yoghurt. Need to be more fun? Sprinkle some cereal on top and if that doesn’t do the trick, make frozen yoghurt pops!
7. Berries
Berries can be popped anytime as a snack, making them one of the best choices for a healthy diet for your kids.
Benefits: Many berries, like raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and cranberries. Packed with dietary fibre, vitamins E and C, selenium, and phytochemicals, they are great for a child’s cognitive development.
Tip: Add berries to cereal, porridge, and even oatmeal to get a ‘berry good’ fix!
8. Milk
There’s no list of the top healthy foods that don’t include milk! Milk is one of the oldest known healthy foods for children.
Benefits: Milk is rich in calcium and vitamin D, essential for developing strong bones. Further, it is also high in potassium, vitamin B12, and phosphorus and one of the best healthy foods.
Tip: Check those nutrition labels and order only unsweetened or plain varieties for your kids.Click here to know more about the best health drinks for kids to help them stay hydrated and healthy.
9. Oats
There’s a good reason that oatmeal is called ‘the breakfast of champions.’ This is one of the healthy foods for kids you don’t want to miss!
Benefits: Oats are high in dietary fibre, proteins, vitamins and minerals, and phytonutrients, too! There is promising research to indicate that eating oatmeal helps lower the elevated level of blood cholesterol, owing to the particular type of soluble fibre called beta-glucan.
Tip: You can use either rolled oats or the steel-cut variety. Add finely cut vegetables to your oatmeal recipe to ensure your kids get their veggies!
10. Fish
Nothing fishy about this excellent food choice for children.
Benefits: Apart from being a great source of protein, fish is packed with essential omega-3 fatty acids.
Tip: Salmon is a great fish choice for kids as it is low in mercury and brain-boosting DHA.
Conclusion
It’s essential to realise your kids aren’t born with a craving for French Fries and pizza. It’s their conditioning that makes them crave these foods. If you tune them towards eating the healthy foods listed herein, you can get that ‘eating right’ exercise, ‘just right.’ Start your child’s early education with preschool admission in EuroKids.
Which of these healthy foods are you going to introduce in the meal plan of your children?
Reference
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/kids-healthy-eating-plate
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/healthy-eating-for-children
For informative and accurate articles on all things related to your new born-toddler’s development, growth, health and nutrition, follow EuroKids Blogs and do check out our nationally recognized preschools – EuroKids for the first step in your kid’s educational journey!
