Today’s modern Pearland families expose their children to unhealthy feeding habits typically due to long work hours and limited family time which results in an unhealthy diet. Fat-laden, starchy foods characterizes today’s typical plate with excessive amounts of sugars in desserts. As a result, some of the complications such as obesity and heart diseases arising from such feeding habits continue into the child’s teen and adulthood. To avoid such a scenario, parents and other stakeholders should be in the front line advocating for proper nutrition for kids. So, what nutrition tips for kids can we follow to ensure we have healthy kids? Read on.
1. Healthy Pearland Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Ensuring that your kids have a protein-filled breakfast ensures that they stay fuller for more extended periods. For those intending to lose weight, this proves as an effective regime since it limits consumption while maintaining a healthy body weight. Greek yogurt, hard-boiled eggs and peanut butter on whole bread come across as healthy options one can consider for their kids.
2. Prioritizing Meal Time
Nowadays, it comes across as hard for families to eat family dinners together since either the parents or the children aren’t around due to work or extracurricular activities. However, all is not lost. By prioritizing family meals, we get to have a sneak peek into our children’s feeding habits. We can, therefore, look into ways in which we can influence and change their eating habits for the better. Mealtime is a time to set proper feeding examples from parents since children always mimic what they see.
3. Involve the Kids
The simple act of involving your kids in your grocery shopping goes a long way in effecting change in their eating habits. Let them pick out healthy vegetables and teach them how to read food labels for their nutritional requirements. It is a fun idea and children will always look forward to that stroll to the local grocery store.
Additionally, you could teach them the values of eating healthy by letting them come up with their kitchen garden. Let them plant the various healthy options, maintain and harvest them to give them that sense of satisfaction and fulfilling experience.
4. Making Gradual Shifts Towards Healthy Foods
Parents don’t need to overhaul their children’s feeding habits drastically. One can gradually, over time, replace food items in their fridge with other healthier options. Swapping white bread with whole wheat bread, sodas with sparkling water and ice cream with home-made smoothies goes a long way in kick-starting proper nutrition for kids. Further, it will avoid confrontation or rebellion with your kids, particularly those in their teenage years.
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5. Limiting the Amount of Sugar
Despite sugar naturally occurring in healthy options such as dairy products and fruits, food companies have stuffed the shelves with sugar-laden items that add empty calories to our dinner tables. High sugar levels cause irritability in children, thereby affecting their learning process. However, this doesn’t mean a total ban on such items. Their consumption should be in modality and parents should issue them out as treats. Banning your children from sweets or donuts creates cravings that do more harm than good.
Additionally, you may be surprised that meals containing sugar taste just as well by reducing or cutting down on their sugar level. Reducing your kid’s consumption in sugary drinks by substituting it with healthier options like smoothies is key to combating diet-related ailments.
6. Advocating for the use of Healthy Fats
Fats are an essential part of our diets. They help us in lifting our moods and improving memory. Kids must consume the healthy and right amount of fats. Healthy fats are also known as unsaturated fats and typically get found in Avocados, seeds, nut and diets that include fish, sardines and salmons. Parents should desist or discourage consumption of baked goods, margarine, fried foods and processed foods as they contain unhealthy fats.
Conclusion
Getting children to adopt healthy eating habits should not be seen as rocket science. There exist a plethora of strategies and tips that parents can take to ensure proper nutrition for kids. It starts with us as parents being role models to our kids, and sure enough, they will follow.
