5 Do’s & Don’ts For Raising A Healthy Eater

Every parent wishes that their child grows up as a healthy eater. It is important for meeting their nutritional needs to ensure they develop strong immunity and remain healthy. Hence, a parenting nutrition plan can help one achieve this.

Let your child eat on their own and while it might be messy, it’s the only way out to raise them to be independent and healthy eaters early in life. There are organic wipes you can use to wipe off the mess. But what should parents do and avoid for raising a healthy eater? Read on.

BabyChakra

Bamboo Water Wipes

₹ 249

Add To Bag

The Do’s

1. Offer Healthy Snacks

Lay down some carrot sticks and other healthy snacks at home before lunch and dinner time. It will keep your child interested and excited about the food they’re going to eat the entire day, instead of craving unhealthy food from the outside world.

2. Taste Your Toddler’s Food

Children usually love to share their food and they’ll also enjoy showing you how to eat it. At times, they won’t want to eat something that they’ve made themselves. Try tasting it and resist the urge to criticise the meal. If you like what your child has made, ensure to tell them that you do! 

3. Make Them Try Different Things

No matter how much you try, some kids will refuse to eat new foods. However, this doesn’t mean you should force them to eat something they do not like. Convince them to give the new food a shot and see if they like it. Just move on if they still refuse the food and don’t force it on them. Let your toddler’s taste buds develop naturally as long as there isn’t any health problem involved in what they’re consuming. Giving them the freedom to pick what to eat will help you raise a healthy eater more easily.

4. Buy Healthy, High-Quality Food

Bring home a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that are healthy and taste good. Include finger foods like carrots, blueberries, strawberries and broccoli. Don’t forget those leafy greens though.

5. Help Your Kids Try New Foods In New Ways

If you want to raise a healthy eater, give them the new food they refused in the past in another form in the future. This may include making a puree out of certain veggies they didn’t have in the past and adding them to noodles, pasta or other food items. You can leave healthy snacks around the house so that your toddler will not need to grab junk food when hungry.

The Don’ts

1. Categorise Food As Good or Bad

If you put food into “bad” and “good” categories, it may make “bad” or “junk” foods more appealing to your child. Plus, if a child is eating what they have been told is “bad” food, they may start developing shame around eating certain foods. 

2. Link Food Choices with Body Size

If you don’t want to eat a packet of chips your toddler offers, avoid saying how it will straightway go into your thighs or other body parts. Instead, you can try saying, “No, thank you, I am not in the mood for chips right now.”

3. Stress Yourself

If your kid hasn’t eaten anything for lunch today, there’s no need to worry. Toddlers go through growth phases and sometimes they might not feel hungry. Remember, that it’s good if your child listens to the ‘hunger signals’ instead of shoving food in the mouth, simply because it’s on the table. Let your child explore food and hunger themselves too.

4. Bribe Your Child to Eat

Avoid coercing, forcing, or bribing your child to eat. Stay away from the two-more-bites approach. Avoid forcing your little one to “clean their plate.” The calorie intake of your child will vary at each meal.

5. Struggle While Buying Groceries

Every food item in your grocery trolley can’t be healthy. If you pick a junk item or two, don’t feel guilty. You must make your children aware of healthy and junk food. However, the latter isn’t just worth spending money on as it doesn’t have the nutritional value that healthy food items have. Hence, junk should be consumed in moderation.

While you put in the effort to raise your little one to be a healthy eater, it’s best to get him/her involved in the cooking or even buying process. Educate them that if they don’t eat healthily, they could become dehydrated and malnourished. Follow healthy parenting nutrition by planning the meals. 

Cover Image credit – Pexels