Training your kids to eat healthy is indeed a challenge for most parents, as they are often influenced by TV commercials about fast foods and other influences that may become more appealing to them.
Putting more vegetables and fruits in their diet will truly make a difference in their growth and in their eating habits. Training them to eat healthy at an early age will also lead them to lesser health problems in their adulthood.
If you want to start with healthy foods for kids, you can select vegetables and add them into their everyday diet. You can also serve them in variety of ways to make them appealing. Fruits and vegetables add a variety of colors and textures to recipes and meals, so you may want to take advantage of that too.
Starting out with the healthy foods for kids, vegetables and fruits, chicken without the skin, wheaties and whole grain, skim milk, frozen yogurt or non-fat ice cream are some healthy foods that you can serve your kids. You can also make your own recipes and make sure you include the healthy ingredients on it.
Breakfast is important not only for adults but for children as well. You can serve them breakfast that is high in fiber, and most likely, you will get this from vegetables as well as in whole grain bread. Cereals and low-fat cheese and skim milk are also good choices for breakfast. You can also give them the fresh fruit rather than canned fruit juices to get the most nutrients out of it and less the artificial coloring.
A healthy sandwich for lunch is also good for the kids. You can use whole grain bread or whole grain crackers. For your tuna salad, you can also cut and mix vegetables like carrot, celery and green peppers. You can also use fat-free mayonnaise together with chunks of chicken and don’t forget to add the carrots, raisins or almonds for your chicken salad. Peanut butter and jelly are also good choices for sandwiches, or you can serve them with your celery sticks. You can always make healthier sandwiches by adding more vegetables in it and serve it with fresh fruit.
At times, you may need a lot of patience to make your kids love vegetables, so make sure also that you are letting them see that you are also eating them. You can also put a bowl of veggies and fruits like grapes or carrot and celery sticks nearby when they are playing so they will be more exposed to these kinds of food.
Organic fruits and vegetables are also healthier choices for your kids. Aside from being free from pesticides, they also have higher nutrient contents and antioxidants. Keep in mind too that if you want healthy foods for kids, refrain from bringing them to fast foods, of course this part may be quite difficult with all the colorful TV ads, but there is always a way to explain. You can also be creative. If they just love those chicken nuggets at the fast food, you can make your own at home less the fat and too much salt. You can grill chicken breast, cut it into smaller bite sizes and make a healthy dipping sauce.
You can actually make your own healthy foods for kids at home like making a healthier pizza and getting those carrot and celery sticks instead of those salty French fries.
Carolyn Anderson appreciates good and healthy food. To learn more about the popular recipes where you can cook at home, please take a look at America’s Most Wanted Recipes. Also check out Healthy Chinese Cooking, where you find healthy low fat, low calorie Chinese recipes.