Tips to Get Children to Eat Healthy

Only buy healthy stuff? Give them healthy options as opposed to chips or fries. I have my girls pick either a piece of fruit or yogurt for snack most days. Should have been like this from the beginning, but now I'm cleaning up my own mess of giving them junk. They are 5 and will be 4 in 2 weeks. I also don't buy soda or juice and I'm working on getting them into drinking almond milk over cow's milk.

Basically, you have to put your foot down wnd say this is what is for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Eat or don't. Trust me, when they know you're serious, they will eat.

Bravo.

Put healthy food in front of them at mealtimes. They eat it, or they don't. Boom, problem solved. When they get hungry enough, they'll eat what you cook them.

This is how it worked for us as children, this how it will work (and is working) for my child. Don't be a pushover, stand firm and eventually they'll go with it, or go hungry. No kid ever died or developed trust issues from voluntarily skipping a few meals.

edited for a typo, and also to add:

it really helps to introduce a really WIDE variety of food very early on in your kids' early toddlerhood, so they don't grow up picky. That way you won't have to unlearn any undesirable eating habits later on.

This ^^^^, you are the parent, do not pander to them or try and reason with a toddler, eat it, leave it and go hungry, their choice., eventually they will eat what you provide

what about toddlers and kids you literally can't reason with, it isn't always something that you can just simply put your foot down with. My toddler barely eats and if he does it's always crackers.

This is my child. There is no reasoning with him. If he doesn't want to do something, he isn't going to do it, no matter what the consequences are.

At this age it's all about exposure. Do what you can to have him taste new things every day. Make a reward chart for something he might want to earn. Serve him whatever you're eating at meals. Make him at least taste everything on his plate before offering an alternative (middle ground between letting him have what he wants and letting him decide to simply not eat). The more he tries new things the faster his taste buds will be acclimated to healthier options.

Again, leave healthy snacks around the house that he can reach and serve himself. Put out fruit/veggie/nut bowls. Or get one of those cubbies and make him his own snack drawer.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.