what's the best way to get kids to eat healthy food??

Answer 1

Feed them food from the get-go. Start them off with healthy snacks. Don't have too many treats around the house, and when it's time for desert give them things that are low or non fat. They will eventually like the taste of healthier foods better.

Answer 2

I teach at a montessouri school for 1-3 year olds and at lunch and snack times we do not allow candy and sugar items only healthy foods and the parents follow that at home with some chocolates in between but it seems to work out well the kids love it too try changing the way they eat

Answer 3

starting from the beginning isn't always a way to guarentee they are going to keep eating that way. my mom gave both my sister and I fruits and veggies regularly and most of our snacks were healthy ones. We didn't drink pop until we were early teens I think. My sister stopped eating her veggies and would only eat potatoes, corn, beans, and raw carrots. She did that for years. Now she is 23 and has started eating her veggies again.

I have a 2 year old. He doesn't eat candy, he has only recently found out that he likes chips though he doesn't eat them very often he prefers fruit or granola bars over candy and chips. He has never had pop, he doesn't even drink a lot of juice really, but if there are veggies on his plate, that is usually the first thing he will go for. Daily he eats corn, peas, carrots, green beans and lima beans, at least once a day, sometimes 2 times a day. Or else he has carrots, broccolli and cauliflower, he also likes potato, beans, cabbage, onions, basically anything we give him he will eat, or at least try. We never gave him any fast food until after 18 months and once we did it is still the healthiest choices available.

If you are having problems getting your kid(s) to eat healthy foods or snacks, try making them fun or interesting, or get them to help make it sometimes that helps too.

For some veggies you can hide them in other foods like cauliflower in mashed potatoes, or veggies in spaghetti sauce.

Answer 4

Start from day 1 with good food and eat with them, kids will try far more if you're eating it too. If you've left it until they're refusing to try and prefer 'junk' though it's not too late-even at 7 or 8 they can be turned into healthy eaters with a little persistence and sneaky behaviour! We cook with our 7 year olds and if they're helping they are far more likely to eat it once cooked with no objections. Be sneaky too, my stepson swore he didn't like potatoe but he would eat mash, roasties, sauted and boilies- as long as we didn't say potatoe on the end he ate it-gravy was a no go so we made it thicker with an onion or stuffing in and called it sauce until he ate it regardless- same with veg too, put the kids veg in a separate dish on the table and tell them it's 'special childrens veg'. Getting them to eat what you want them to eat is very much in how you sell it to them- a big "mmmmm" and a smile is a good start and I always say "nice, isn't it?" in a positive voice, nine times out of ten they'll say yes and eat it no problem. And if they don't eat it don't panic-it may take new foods being on the plate half a dozen times or more before they feel confident enough to eat more than just a taste-and make them feel good for trying new stuff even if they don't eat it. More important than anything else though is to remember that you are the parent(s) and that you are in charge of meal times and of what they eat between them. Kids won't starve themselves and if they've refused to eat a perfectly good meal then DO NOT feed them until their next meal, no snacks no sandwiches 'so they've eaten something' because you're making a rod for your own back-and theirs long term. And just in case anyone thinks'well it's easy to pontificate', trust me, we've had the screaming abdabs and meals missed in our house more than once!Good luck! H.

Answer 5

Start getting them into healthy eating habits right away in life. If it's too late for that already, just keep junk food out of the house. If the temptation is absent, it's a lot harder (especially for kids) to get a hold of unhealthy foods.

Answer 6

During a meal if the child doesn't seem interested in eating veggies then make something they like and something they don't like, say like green beans and ask them to try it which is called a "no thank you" taste. Eventually they will find something healthy that they like. But do not force that child to eat it if they don't want to. You could also instead of offering chips for a snack have something healthy available like fruit or cut up veggies with dip. But make sure when you are introducing it during the meal make sure you cook at least one thing that they like. So that they won't starve themselves. Kids will not starve themselves so if you only offer healthy food for snack they will eat it.

Answer 7

What really seemed to worked for by three was this: I would buy the pre-cut raw carrot stickes, celery, fruit, etc. But I would let each one pick out their own dip. I got some flat plates and they would have 4-5 piles of differents stuff. Where my oldest loves ranch dressing, they all used Chocolate syrup for their fruit. I also use peanut butter, salsa, different dressings, honey. They would have so much fun dipping everything, they forgot they were eating nutritional foods.,

Answer 8

Don't have the unhealthy in the house, give them snacks of fruit and raw veg, my toddler loves raisins and grapes.

This is to the point that on a recent trip to the zoo her grandmother offered her an ice cream and she said no and sat eating grapes instead.

It's not that she doesn't have sweets and crisps and things but I've always made sure that first choice is something healthy.

Make food interesting, you can make a clown face easier using fruit and veg than you can using crisps!

Answer 9

Well, with my family, it was eat healthy or don't eat. I didn't eat much. When I graduated, I was 6' 135 lbs. If you don't have candy and crap around, it can't be eaten. When you sit down to dinner and hear "I don't like this" take it away and let them watch tv. When they come to you an hour later hungry, give them the cold food. They still won't eat it but soon they will realize that if they want to eat, they better eat what you give them.

Answer 10

Cook healthy so that that can eat healthy. Limit the amount of junk foods given to them.