Our useful collection of tips can assist you in helping your kids eat better.
Fast and easy tips to help you create healthy snacks for your kids!
During your busy day it's hard to develop a healthy snacking habit, but with our Quick Snack Tips you can easily and quickly create healthy snacks that everyone can enjoy.
Be a great role model for your kids and be sure to eat a wide variety of vegetables and fruit every day. Also keep in mind that kids are more likely to eat a previously disliked vegetable when they see one of their friends eating it.
Kids don't eat something because it's good for them. They eat it because it tastes good. Prepare vegetables and fruit with flavours kids enjoy. Most kids like mild and sweet flavours. A great way to enhance the taste of vegetables, for example, is with a touch of sugar. Glazed carrots are a great option and a drizzle of maple syrup makes squash especially tasty.
Your presence at the table means a lot to children. Even if you're not eating, if you sit with them, they're more likely to eat. Have your children eat at the table, not in front of the TV or while they run around. It's important for kids to focus on their meal and to think of mealtime as the time to eat.
Do your kids prefer raw carrots to cooked carrots? Most do. Many kids will even eat a frozen pea before a cooked one. That's okay. While it's a good idea to get kids used to eating vegetables served in a variety of ways, serving them raw on a regular basis is a good strategy for success.
Don't feel bad. It's okay to use the blender or food processor to hide vegetables in foods kids love like spaghetti sauce, chili or shepherd's pie. Shredded carrots mix nicely into a tuna or chicken salad sandwich mixture. And pureed fruit or shredded veggies are a must-add for all muffin mixes and pancake batters.
Make it a habit to offer your children vegetables and fruit when they're most hungry. Many parents offer kids vegetables only at suppertime - a time when many young children are more tired than hungry. Offer fruit or veggies with dip as a pre-dinner snack or right when kids get home from school.
Make meals something your kids look forward to. The best way to achieve this is by serving a variety of healthy foods at regular meal and snack times. Once the food is served (now, this is the tough part!), sit back and relax. Your children decide what and how much they eat - no pushing, no prodding, no 'clean your plate' rules from you. The more positive and relaxed the environment, the more food your kids are likely to eat.
Some kids wouldn't think of chomping into a pear, but will happily eat it peeled and sliced - add a few sprinkles and it becomes a true delight. Serve vegetables and fruit chopped or sliced whenever possible. Always keep a fruit bowl in sight and in reach. Be creative. Make kebobs by putting chunks of vegetables or fruit on a skewer. Add fruit cocktail to jello molds. Serve fruit with frozen yogurt. Most important, don't forget to eliminate the competition. If your cupboards are filled with cookies and potato chips, the vegetables and fruit are more likely to go untouched.
Get dipping vegetables, fruit, dips and kids - what a happy combination. Most kids will eat almost anything if there's a dip to go with it. Serve baby carrots or red pepper sticks with a ready-made salad dressing. Allow kids to dip cooked vegetables in plum sauce, applesauce or ketchup. Serve fruit like strawberries, apple or banana slices with fruit-flavoured yogurt, cream cheese or chocolate pudding. And don't forget sauces - a little bit of cheese sauce on most vegetables increases their appeal significantly.
It takes a significant amount of time for most kids to accept a new food. Research shows that many children must be exposed to (and ideally taste) a new food 5 to 10 times before accepting it. Serve new vegetables and fruit on a regular basis. Encourage, but don't force, your kids to try at least a nibble of any new food offered. To increase enthusiasm for new foods, get your kids involved in the shopping, cooking or preparation whenever possible.
Variety is a good thing As variety increases, kids tend to eat more food. At dinnertime, for example, most kids do better with a small serving of peas, a small serving of corn, and a small potato as compared to a large serving of just one vegetable. When possible, make it a habit to serve two or three vegetables or fruit with most meals (this also helps if your child doesn't like one particular vegetable - hopefully they'll eat one or more of the other two).
Do you tell your children they can watch TV or have dessert if they eat their broccoli? This approach works only in the short-term. When you offer kids rewards for eating a certain food, the food eaten to obtain the reward becomes less preferred. Kids start to think of these foods as 'bad' foods or a form of punishment and are more resistant to eat them the next time they are offered.
If you eat healthy, so will your kids. Use our easy eating tips to help you!
If you eat healthy, so will your kids. Use our easy eating tips to help you.
Kids feel overwhelmed when they are served adult size portions. Keep serving sizes small, about ½ to ¼ of what you would serve yourself, and let your children ask for more.
When it comes to a new food, serve just a teaspoon or two to make the food seem less intimidating.
When eating out at a restaurant, ask whether your entrée comes with a vegetable side dish. If not, make it a habit to order extra veggies on the side.
With the exception of olives and avocados, all vegetables and fruit are low in fat. What's more, the fat found in olives and avocados is primarily the monounsaturated, healthier-for-your-heart kind.
What they don't see won't hurt them! Use the blender or food processor to hide vegetables in food kids love like spaghetti sauce or chili. You can even add pureed carrots to macaroni and cheese.
When you order pizza out, ask for double the veggies and half the cheese.
Most people, including kids, tend to eat what is handy. Keep vegetables and fruit in reach and in sight. Keep cookies, chips and candy out of sight and out of reach (better yet, don't keep them around at all).
To preserve nutrients cook vegetables quickly and only until they reach the 'tender but crisp' stage. Use cooking methods that require little or no liquid - microwaving, baking, steaming, and stir-frying.
Eat different kinds of vegetables and fruit each day. Each vegetable or fruit has its own unique package of disease-preventing nutrients and plant compounds.
Are you getting enough iron in your diet? Many women and children don't. Prune juice contains more iron than any other juice. Dried fruits, like raisins and apricots, are also good sources of iron.
Become famous for the wonderful veggie and dip trays you bring to parties and family dinners.
Don't slather your sandwiches with butter or regular mayo. Instead add crisp, crunchy veggies and a tangy mustard spread. More nutrition, less fat, great taste!
Can't get your kids to eat enough veggies? Serve them raw more often. Most kids prefer them this way.
Supplement your take-out dinner with vegetables and fruit from home. Microwaved veggies are always fast and easy.
Instead of butter, add low fat sour cream or buttermilk to mashed potatoes. Delicious!
Got the munchies? Snack on baby carrots while you prepare dinner.
Research indicates that people who eat more vegetables are less likely to gain weight. Bring on the veggies!
To help reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke, eat a wide variety of brightly coloured vegetables and fruit each day. Dark green, orange and red vegetables and fruit - like spinach, oranges, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries and red peppers - give you a bigger bang for your nutritional buck. For good health also include cruciferous vegetables - like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage - and allium vegetables - like onions and garlic in your diet.
Try at least one new healthy recipe involving vegetables and fruit each week.
Worried about the nutritional value of canned or frozen vegetables and fruit? Don't. Nutrients are more or less 'locked in' when produce is frozen or canned.
Substitute whole fruit - fresh, frozen or canned - for fruit juices more often. While juices have lots of vitamins and minerals, they contain very little fibre.
Got a sweet tooth? Snack on baby carrots or dried fruit instead of candy.
Help your kids to eat more fruit and veggies with these taste tips!
Convincing kids to eat healthy food isn't easy, unless it tastes good. So use these Great Taste Tips to help encourage healthy eating in your family.
Add a sprinkle of brown sugar, orange juice, nutmeg and cinnamon to mashed squash, sweet potatoes or canned pureed pumpkin.
Liven up your veggie side dishes with one or more of the following items - fresh herbs (thyme, tarragon, rosemary, dill, parsley or basil), a low fat vinaigrette salad dressing, lemon juice, grated orange peel, salsa, Parmesan cheese. Add raisins, sliced almonds or pine nuts for something different.
Mix equal parts of honey and lemon juice - about 30 mL (2 Tbsp) of each. Add to cooked, drained vegetables, like carrots, broccoli or green beans. Heat over medium until glazed - about 2 minutes.
Don't let your brown bag, veggie-packed sandwich get soggy. Rather than adding tomato or cucumber slices in the morning, pack the veggies slices in a separate container and add them only when you're ready to take your first bite.
Add fruit - like apples, peaches, kiwi, raisins, strawberries or canned mandarin orange sections - to dark green leafy salads more often. Mix with a sweet, low fat dressing, like a raspberry or citrus vinaigrette, for the ultimate taste sensation.