Secrets of Healthy Eating for Kids

Discover how your child can enjoy a healthy, varied diet!

There are so many amazing types of food available, full of fibrant colours, exotic smells and exciting tastes that our children deserve no less. In order to increase your child's intake of healthy food, you need to take them on a journey of the discovery of food, of the amazing world we live in, of vitality and interest in life itself. Human beings are not just biological bodies that need to function properly, but comprise of body, spirit and emotions. Ideally these parts all need to work together to produce a hunger and appetite that extends beyond the body alone. It's all about eating the right foods, that will increase their energy and enthusiasm, rather than simply putting on weight. Read on to discover the secrets!

I have always highly valued healthy eating

and making it an interesting, fun and pleasant experience for children. To this end, I have also enjoyed cooking:- the challenge of producing appetising and economical meals and using them to enhance an occasion, making it an important, special time for all participating. I believe that eating is a wonderful opportunity to show others that you enjoy their company and indeed to make a time for yourself to stop and rest. When this becomes a priority in any home, the members of that family will certainly be a long way ahead in the journey of harmony and well-being. This is the foundation upon which fussy eaters can learn to enjoy eating a rich variety of food.

Seven Ways to increase your child's appetite

1. Talk about the meal beforehand, giving your child plenty of warning and a 5 minute warning, so that they are ready to leave what they were doing and do not feel that the meal has been pushed upon them at the last minute. Work at creating a peaceful atmosphere leading up to the mealtime.
2. Don't allow your child to snack right before the meal. Your child needs to be hungry at the mealtime, so only allow fruit or non-sugary drinks up to an hour before.
3. Let the aroma of cooking food wet their appetite. Food that is microwaved does not have the same effect as the welcoming smell of healthy food that has been cooked, stimulating their brain to get into the hungry, eating mode.
4. Reward the good eating of fussy eaters with a suitable appendage to their meal or use a reward chart that they can take pride in filling up by completing their meal. This gives them something extra to look forward to. However, consistency here is the key and rewards only given when they meet the required criteria, that is agreed beforehand.
5. When possible, allow your child to help in the preparation of the food, including shopping, cooking and setting the table. Everyone likes to sample what they themselves have helped to create! Presentation is also important.
6. Talk enthusiastically about food with your child, looking in books where they can understand what certain foods do for their bodies. Invest in a good cookbook with colourful pictures. You could even get your child to write out the family menu for the week and display each dish with colourful pictures from magazines.
7. When introducing new food to a child, give them small portions to begin with, gradually increasing it as they get used to it. Another way is to disguise a food they don't like by mixing it with something that they do, gradually decreasing the latter and increasing the former food.

Start believing that if you are enthusiastic about real, wholesome food, your child will be too!

Come on- own up to the processed food in your cupboard and decide now to swap it with something better! Uncover a new vitality in your child that will give them the lift to respond positively to life itself and all your cuisine efforts!