How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthy…it's Not Impossible!
Research reveals that many school-going children are either obese or malnourished
. Moreover, some parents cannot understand why this is so when the food served at home is "wholesome, good food." Others, fed up with the constant bickering about what food should be eaten, allow their children to eat junk food "to keep the peace." Making your child eat nutritious and healthy food does not always have to be a battle. The suggestions below will ensure that your child eats healthily and still enjoys what he eats.
Regular Meal Times:
Ideally, your child should eat something nutritious every 3 to 4 hours. This helps stabilize his blood glucose levels to avoid excessive hunger in between meals. Here is an example of a sensible eating schedule for your growing child:
7 a.m. Breakfast
10 a.m. Mid-morning snack
1 p.m. Lunch
4 p.m. Afternoon snack
7:30 p.m. Dinner
9:30 p.m. Pre-bedtime hot drink and snack (optional)
Start with Breakfast:
When your child eats breakfast, it means that he is doing just that - he is 'breaking fast.' When your child wakes up in the morning, he has not eaten for at least 8 hours. A nutritious breakfast will replace the calories burned during the night and kick-starts your child's metabolism. Many parents complain that they have little time in the morning to prepare breakfast and would prefer to skip breakfast altogether. This is a real shame as children should never become the victim of their parents' bad time management. You must lead by example because, when your child sees you sitting down to breakfast, he is likely to follow suit. On average, many families who have breakfast together report that the whole process, from preparing, eating and clearing up breakfast, takes no more than thirty minutes. Here are simple food choices that you can prepare quickly in the morning:
Fried eggs on toast
Wholegrain cereal, topped with bananas and milk
Pancakes with honey
Congee
Baked beans on toast
Bowl of fruit
Cooked oats, topped with raisins and milk
Snack Smart:
A whole bar of chocolate, a packet of potato crisps, pies and fried noodles are unlikely to be considered healthy snacks. A healthy snack should contain carbohydrates, protein, dairy, fruit and vegetables. There are times when breakfast items make great snacks too. Here are some suggestions for snacks:
Sandwiches
Wholegrain cereal with milk
Soybean curd
Wholegrain muffins
Oranges and apples
Flavored yogurt
Include your child in the process of choosing suitable snacks by taking him along when you go grocery shopping. Gently guide him towards the section where healthy food is stored and encourage him to choose his own snacks. In so doing, he will also develop a sense of confidence in the choices he makes.
Drink Sufficient Water:
Research shows that many parents today complain that their children refuse to drink water because "water is tasteless." To prevent dehydration, parents often compromise and allow their children to drink sodas or sweetened drinks. This is worse, as drinking such sweetened drinks can lead to obesity in children. Basically, there is no substitute for water. Ideally, your child should be drinking at least eight glasses of water a day. If your child is active in sports, he should be drinking even more water. The easiest way to get your children to drink water is, again, to set a good example - get into the habit of drinking eight glasses of water a day. Soon, you'll notice that your child will follow suit. As you can see, keeping regular meal times, eating breakfast, choosing smart snacks and drinking sufficient water are just a few ways to encourage and guide your child to choose more nutritious food each time. If your child's eating habits could do with some improvement, take heart that, in the long run, the small changes made will bring about big benefits.
by: Steve Kelly
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