Home
>
Parenting
>
Healthy Eating For Children: Six Simple Rules

Healthy Eating For Children: Six Simple Rules

Rule #1 Make Every Bite Count!

Everything your child eats should be nutritious. Children can be picky and inconsistent, so make sure that what they do eat is really good for them. That way if they end up having two bites of potato for dinner, you can be confident that they at least had a great lunch, snack, etc.

"Where's the fun?" you ask. There is not much room in that little tummy, think carefully before filling it with junk. And ask yourself why you are offering chocolate bars or cookies at snack time. It is often the parent/caregiver who is deriving pleasure from seeing children gleefully down a non-nutritious treat. Your child can derive smiles and joy from many other places - it doesn't have to be junk food.

Rule #2 Ban the word "dessert" from your food-vocabulary, and use "treat" carefully.

Make desserts healthy(not just fun) so that things like fruit, nuts, and yogurt become part of the meal, not the reward for finishing it. All good foods can be treats, but we often think of only junk as such - so use the word judiciously.

By isolating foods under these categories, you may negate their nutritional value to your child if you are following Rule #1. Again it is usually a caregiver that delights in serving a "dessert' or "treat" more than the two-year-old who probably wouldn't care otherwise if they've never had triple chocolate cake with whipped cream.

Rule #3 Be persistent, not insistent.

It may take a child a while to warm up to a new food. Just introduce foods gently time and time again until they try it. Never insist that they try something they don't want to, and certainly never insist that they finish their plate. Mealtime should not be battletime. They will eat if they need to.

If you begin a power struggle over meals, you risk it becoming long-term. The point is to get them to eat healthfully, not develop an association between food and control. This is one reason why developing healthy eating habits early on is so important.

Rule # 4 Break the rules our parents taught us.

Many of us can remember moms putting food on our plates and expecting us to eat it - or not. There were few struggles back then because children quickly learned that if they didn't eat what was served to them, they would go hungry. And after a few nights of sitting at the table by themselves until they finished their peas, they learned to eat them without protest.

We now know how destructive this can be. Many adult eating disorders began in childhood, and many sufferers can remember these episodes at the dinner table as a child.

Respecting that your child's tastebuds and moods are as different from yours as is your spouse's, or your neighbour's means learning to break the rules of the "family meal" from time to time.

Let your child have a "creative" meal made up of healthy foods they like, while the rest of the family has their casserole, curry, or stirfry. So long as it is healthy, and doesn't happen every night of the week, letting a child choose their own meals usually won't create the problems our parents thought it would. It will more likely foster a respect for healthy eating rather than an unhealthy association with mealtime.

Rule # 5 Everyone Needs Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for many, if not all, children.

Missing breakfast can set the tone for their entire day and create a downward spiral of too tired to eat vs. too hungry to nap... and so on. What adult doesn't love to have a hungry and tired child on their hands?

Many studies, and many caregivers, will attest to the fact that a good breakfast helps children function better mentally. While most studies lean toward school age children, this fact should be applied to babies and toddlers as well.

Many signs of the stereotypic "terrible-two" year-old is often hunger. Breakfast should contain some protein for lasting energy, helping to offset the midmorning meltdown. Prevention is the key because a miserable child often won't eat, and you won't obtain your objective of feeding them well.

Rule # 6 Learn from your child

Our children know best more often than we give them credit for. Some tummies are really good at letting their owners know when to eat, and how much to eat. Let children learn how to listen to their bodies - many adults have forgotten. Children never fit into one mold, and another person's rules (such as the preceding 5) usually need to be modified to fit your family. Learn to follow your child's rules from time to time... they may surprise you.

Stacelynn Caughlan is a Clinical Nutritionist and Certified Herbalist who specializes in pregnancy, birth and childhood. She is currently the editor of http://www.motherandchildhealth.com an online resource for women looking for information on natural health and healing for themselves and their families.

no-contract cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

South Korean scientists create ultra-thin fabric muscles that turn clothes into robotic assistants, lifting 33 pounds while weighing under half an ounce.

Healthy Eating For Children: Six Simple Rules

Parenting