Each adult in the family can help the child to love healthy eating. We will try to give a few tips that could help you in this hard but crucial task.
1. Explain some important things carefully
It’s good for children to learn to think logically from young age and to make independent and conscious choices. You will need to explain everything in detail, with many interesting examples and respect. Let your child perceive himself as a person who has to learn to make right decisions and be responsible for them.
2. Explain what advertising and fashion are
This is a very complex issue, but we must try. Children are very impressionable and often the desire for a particular food is due to advertising and fashion among children in school or kindergarten. Funny ads and bright packaging almost guarantee us that hamburgers and sodas are super cool and healthy for us and can strongly influence the kid’s brain, especially if the TV is constantly on.
3. Help distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods through different games
You can see various pictures of fun food for kids and try to make them at home. During preparation, explain them how healthy and delicious is the food you are preparing. Make a dialogue all the time and help them to reach conclusions themselves.
4. Read their books
There are many picture books for children that explain healthy eating and illustrate which foods are good and which are not. Furthermore, it is useful to keen your child on books from an early age. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau said it “The informed person is hard to manipulate!”
5. In order to feed your child healthy, and you must follow this yourself
As the saying goes “the best advice is the personal example”. There is no way to convince your child that a particular food is harmful if you eat it regularly yourself.
Many parents make the mistake of feeding their children all day as they indicate their interest in any food. Be careful what eating habits you create for the body and mind of your child. If you manage to make your child get used to eating and enjoying healthy food, it will only look for it.
7. Never force, insult or harass them. Talk and talk with them as a friend
Love, care, atmosphere and attention to child’s nutrition is the key to your success. Don’t forget that these components are also an important factor for raising and keeping physically and mentally healthy child. It is important to treat your child with respect, as a best friend. Negative reactions to it, especially at mealtimes, destroy his psyche and cause physical illnesses related to the digestive system.
* Data from national surveys of dietary and nutritional status show children 3-6 years of age following major issues:
• High consumption of total fat, particularly fat of animal origin;
• Insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables, especially raw in winter and spring;
dairy• Insufficient consumption of milk and milk products;
• Low consumption of fish;
• High consumption of confectionery, sugar
and chocolate products, soft drinks containing sugars;
• High salt intake
• Low consumption of bread and other whole grains.