Tips to Get Children to Eat Healthy

Ulwaz

try new recipes, add more fruit/veg thats hidden so they arent aware they are eating it
look for healthy recipes for junkfood alternatives

_KitKat_

Both of my daughter's love healthy food and prefer things like avacado, red peppers, shrimp ect to junkier foods. I think why is because we love those foods and have always had them around. We also do not give foods value...ie: eat this to get this. Candy and junk are in the house but we treat them like any other snack, I remind my kids of portions but that is for all foods. I feel because no food is considered special or naughty they seem to base their choices on taste and what they want.

String cheese, yogurt, fruit are great things to have around and most kids enjoy them. We also never force anything, you must try but if you really dislike something then there is no need to eat it. I do remind them that tastes buds change roughly every 6 months, so just because they didn't like something before does not mean they won't like it now.

The oddest is my youngest, doesn't like cheese on things, not a chocolate fan (vanilla ice cream and pudding) prefers veggies and fruit smoothies to all else. No clue where she came from everyone else loves cheese and chocolate (I am not a candy person but love chocolate cake and ice cream)

FlaxMilk

Your one line, "He won't try new foods because he knows I will make him the nuggets." Just stop buying the nuggets and fish sticks for awhile so you don't have the temptation to give in. It will help you with future power struggles to stop now. You can always buy just enough nuggets for a few meals a week and let him know that "We ate them all, now we will eat other food until the next time I go to the grocery store." (Don't make a big deal out of it, though. Just be matter of fact and casual.)

Think of it this way: it's hard for adults to eat a variety of healthy foods because the temptation is just to eat what we really want. There are certain foods I could live off of for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. A toddler isn't going to be more disciplined than an adult, so you have to take care of that piece.

wilsoje74

Don't buy the unhealthy food or have it in the house.

rockmama72

I always gave my kids cut up vegetables with dip and parked them in front of the TV while I was making dinner. They'd be pretty hungry by that time, and dipping is fun.

Have you tried growing any vegetables with your kids? My 5-year-old helped plant the seeds and now she can't wait to pick her cucumbers, tomatoes and salad.

37lbs_to_go

Your one line, "He won't try new foods because he knows I will make him the nuggets." Just stop buying the nuggets and fish sticks for awhile so you don't have the temptation to give in. It will help you with future power struggles to stop now. You can always buy just enough nuggets for a few meals a week and let him know that "We ate them all, now we will eat other food until the next time I go to the grocery store." (Don't make a big deal out of it, though. Just be matter of fact and casual.)

This is some wonderful advice and I hope you take it to heart. Whenever my kids start demanding anything I simply stop buying it. So far I've done this with two foods.

You have a rough road ahead of you. Food issues are difficult at best, even for adults. But hang in there. Your son's health is worth it.

CindyB97

Ugh, picky kids! Mine are both very picky. (For example, I think they may be the only two humans on the planet who don't like bacon, lol!) Here's what I've done for snacks and it seems to be working.

I put bins on the bottom shelf of the pantry, and I put pre-portioned snacks into each of them. One is for protein (nuts, pb, a little sign saying "cheese or yogurt is in the fridge", etc.). One is for fruit (dried fruit, apples, bananas, etc.). One is for grains (whole grain crackers, goldfish, etc.). And the last is for sweets (junk mostly, like m&ms, cookies, etc.). Since everything is pre-portioned, I know they aren't eating half a bag of cookies or even too many nuts.

So then every day, they get to make their own "snack bag" where they choose one item from every bin and put it in a lunch bag. That's their snack for the entire day. They can eat it between meals if they want, or all at once in the afternoon, or at night. They like being able to choose and control what they eat, and I like that I know most of the choices are fairly healthy. They aren't deprived of the junk, but they have it in moderate portions. Isn't that the best way for us as "dieters" to eat, as well? Not depriving ourselves of guilty pleasures, just not overdoing it.

Anyway, so far it's working. It's not too much work for me, I mostly use Ziplock snack bags and portion things out as soon as I get home from the grocery store.

jfauci

I haven't read all the responses, so forgive me it this has already been mentioned. I involve my kids in the meal prep. They get to make suggestions on what to eat and then we shop together. I have some healthy kid friendly cookbooks so they look through those and get some ideas.

They may not ultimately eat what they planned, but the rule is that they have to try it.

KylaDenay

My son is 12 now, but he always loved to eat like a grown man while growing up and now. He loves all the normal foods that kids eat, but he loves a home cooked meal more. What I would do is instead of buying the processed or frozen options, I made them myself. So if he wanted chicken nuggets or chicken sandwich and fries, I would just cut up a chicken breast and make nuggets or a chicken sandwich with it. Then I would cut up a potato and make baked fries. He loved them. As long as he is having nuggets and fries he was happy. If he wanted a burger, sure I'll make one myself. I add some carrots to meat sauce to add extra veggies. Add sauces or cheese to veggies. Kids love smoothies, so sneak in some veggies (maybe carrots instead of green veggies lol).

If my son didn't want to eat something I say to him "then you must not be hungry. I am not making you anything else and you will starve." They end up eating it and loving it.

cheesevixen_staci

EXPERIMENT: My son hates meat, but he will eat very certain kinds of protein. I just experimented.

MAKE THE FOOD LOOK COOL AND INTRODUCE NEW KINDS OF FOODS: My daughter doesn't like a lot of things either so I presented different fruits and veggies and MEALS to her every week. If she ate spaghetti I would add spaghetti to my menu for the month. She likes tomatoes and carrots. I had no idea until I bought some for no reason and just showed her. She has them for snacks now. Curiosity gets the best of most kids. Another good way is to make those items they don't like in a different way. Spinach is generally frowned on, but if I make a "cool" meal out of it they won't even notice. Like my "Monster" sandwiches.

CO-COOKING: Another huge way I got my kids to open up their taste buds was to have them cook with me. Even if it's just premixing the spices. I found they were more apt to eating the food when they were responsible for it, and I enjoyed teaching them about the different things we made as well. It's a great way to get them interested in what they put in their bodies while spending some quality time together. It's also a good way to teach them kitchen safety early. I highly recommend trying co-cooking.

However do not let them control the kitchen. You're still mom. They don't want to eat dinner. They go without dinner. Which is rare cause we believe in dessert after dinner in this house.

SLLRunner

I don't have kids, but my mother had us ask if we wanted a snack. If it was close to meal time, she'd say no because then we'd ruin our dinner. If it wasn't too close to meal time, fruit and vegetables almost always got a yes, potato chips and cookies and candy mostly a no because those were treats.

However, she had no control over what we ate elsewhere, which is why I got fat-I ate too many of the homemade cookies at my friend's house next door because she didn't care what her kids ate or when. Funny thing is, neither one of them grew up to be overweight.

wheird

Give them a multi and fight the battles as they come.

rockmama72

EXPERIMENT: My son hates meat, but he will eat very certain kinds of protein. I just experimented.

MAKE THE FOOD LOOK COOL AND INTRODUCE NEW KINDS OF FOODS: My daughter doesn't like a lot of things either so I presented different fruits and veggies and MEALS to her every week. If she ate spaghetti I would add spaghetti to my menu for the month. She likes tomatoes and carrots. I had no idea until I bought some for no reason and just showed her. She has them for snacks now. Curiosity gets the best of most kids. Another good way is to make those items they don't like in a different way. Spinach is generally frowned on, but if I make a "cool" meal out of it they won't even notice. Like my "Monster" sandwiches.

CO-COOKING: Another huge way I got my kids to open up their taste buds was to have them cook with me. Even if it's just premixing the spices. I found they were more apt to eating the food when they were responsible for it, and I enjoyed teaching them about the different things we made as well. It's a great way to get them interested in what they put in their bodies while spending some quality time together. It's also a good way to teach them kitchen safety early. I highly recommend trying co-cooking.

However do not let them control the kitchen. You're still mom. They don't want to eat dinner. They go without dinner. Which is rare cause we believe in dessert after dinner in this house.

Great advice! I used to give my daughter a kids plastic knife and let her play with spinach and lettuce or pieces of soft whole grain bread, and now she gets to use a butter knife. (I still watch her carefully! Little fingers are still clumsy She likes to add and stir in ingredients that I've already put in a measuring cup. And the idea that the poster above mentioned--to make the food look cool-- I so agree! It's a creative little activity for them.

OP, there's a show called Noodle and Doodle Bus that does a fun and usually healthy snack idea. You can probably find it on YouTube. They make the food so interesting that my kid is begging to make and eat it.

redraidergirl2009

Tell them they have to eat what's on their plate or nothing at all. That's parenting.

katkins73

Does he drink milkshakes? I am lucky I have a dd that loves healthy food but since she was little i have made her smoothies and added spinach or other veg. An easy one is frozen banana, milk and spinach, we call it a Shrek smoothie and if you can get him to like the green colour then he wont even be able to taste the spinach. Avocado is also good added to smoothies. As I said my dd likes healthy food but she has been through phases of not liking strong flavoured green veg and I think we have to remember young children have much stronger taste buds than us. When my dd went through these phases I would give her a bowl of frozen peas and sweetcorn and she would (and still does) eat them like that. She also likes peas in the pod and snapping them open herself to eat the peas. Corn on the cob always goes down well too. I think the trick is to expose kids to as many as possible and see what they take a liking to, they can surprise the hell out of you sometimes! My daughter's favourite sushi is the one with raw tuna! She hates lettuce but will eat a salad made of spinach leaves. She is very motivated by being strong, having muscles and being a fast runner etc. Does your son like to be active?

JEDDIE89

Thanks for all the advice! I am going to start using these tips this week. We went on a mini vacation this past weekend, so I figured it was no use trying to eat healthy when our only choices were fast food. Surprisingly, when available, my child went for and ate more fruit than anything else. We were more active than usual, swimming 1-3 times a day and running/walking around as much as possible. My son had a blast taking the stairs, instead of elevator, to get to and from our hotel room. He loves exercising, it's more me that's holding him back (I'm lazy). Yes, I am the parent, and I have failed him. I was not taught healthy eating habits when I was young, and my family continues to eat into excess, but I am determined to have my son take a different path with food. I thought about planning out activities for the week (swimming, walking, dog park, etc.) and meals/snacks - do you think this will be helpful or is just bound for failure?

madhatter2013

My 12 yr old learned very fast that you either eat what you are given or you go to bed hungry. When he was 8, my husband and I got married and our family doubled in size. He was no longer the only child and now he had 3 little sisters, 2 from my husband and one we had together. She was born 2 weeks after the joint custody went through. The now 2 yr old isn't really picky but the other two girls, 7 and 4, only eat junk at their mother's house so it's not easy for them to come over tomy house and eat only healthy home cooked meals. They're learning just like he did and their younger sister knows, that if they don't want to go to bed hungry, they eat what I put in front of them.

Flutterloo

My 4yo daughter is picky. She was MUCH more picky last year. So picky that all she wanted to eat were goldfish crackers, yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, and cheese.

The rule in our house is that you try everything on your plate. If you still don't want it, then you can wait until morning to eat. But you try one bite of everything. This has helped my daughter begin to overcome the picky-ness. She will now eat MOST of the meals I cook, at least in some amount. I do take notice of her reactions to foods I cook. If I can tell she doesn't like the texture/taste of something--I make it a few times to see if she opens up to it. If not, I am not an a******, I will stop making it. Lol. For instance, she doesn't like rice in anyway. Potatoes she will only eat small amounts of, and they can not be mushy-no mashed potatoes at all. But BEFORE we started this, she avoided ALL potatoes (yes, even a typical kid favorite--frenchfries) She also used to avoid eggs at ALL COST. Wouldn't even consider touching them. Now she will eat them if they are over medium, and she has a toast wedge to dip in the yolk.

All kids are different, but this is what works for mine. Good luck! Picky eating can be such a headache!