Healthy eating habits are beneficial for people from all age groups. But there’s one age group for which healthy eating is particularly essential. Your children need to eat healthy, including toddlers and teenagers. Early childhood is the most critical time to establish healthy eating patterns that stick for a lifetime. While most parents are familiar with the importance of meeting their kids’ nutritional needs, they also get overwhelmed by the demand of their children and information from various sources.
While children are fussy eaters, they also need a balanced diet in their formative years. Healthy eating habits are a key to providing children with the essential nutrients they need to grow. Their diet should contain three daily meals and two healthy snacks with foods enriched in protein, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, dairy foods, some fat and sugar. Hence, the best CBSE school in Greater Noida encourages parents to pack a healthy meal for their children’s lunch break.
Obesity has become more common in children than before, leading to various issues, including poor self-esteem, negative body image, sleep apnea, heart diseases and joint problems. While some of these issues are emotional, others are serious health problems that may cause several complications and have long-term effects into adulthood. Luckily, it is much easier to maintain a healthy weight than to lose weight. So if your child follows healthy eating habits from a young age, they will continue to make health-conscious choices and remain at a healthy weight as an adult.
However, it’s easier said than done, as most children prefer pizza over broccoli. Along with peer pressure and endless commercials for unhealthy food items, you have an uphill struggle to get your children to eat healthily. But your kids weren’t born with a liking for pizza and a dislike for broccoli and carrots. They develop this habit over time due to continuous exposure to more unhealthy food choices. Therefore, it’s also possible to reprogram their food preferences and acquire healthy eating habits instead by working together with the top school in Greater Noida.
By switching them to a healthy diet, you can improve your child’s health, help them maintain a healthy weight, stabilize their moods and sharpen their minds. It can also have a profound effect on your child’s sense of mental and emotional wellbeing, helping them focus and even excel in their nursery admission in Greater Noida. Here’s how to develop healthy eating habits in your children:
Give Them a Variety of Food Options.
Nowadays, most parents are working full-time and have less time to prepare home-cooked meals and snacks. But instead of letting your children become dependent on sugary soft drinks, junk food and processed meals, you should provide them with healthy snacks options. Hence, it is much better to offer your children a variety of healthy options, such as fruits, juices and vegetable dishes that are easy to prepare. It will help you shape your children’s food preferences since kids usually develop a liking for foods offered regularly. Additionally, you also have to lead by example as children learn through observation. When they see their parents, friends and older siblings enjoying the same food items, they’re more likely to eat them.
Offer Them Sweets and Snacks in Moderation.
Children may develop resentment towards particular foods when they are ordered or pressured to eat them regularly. Hence, it is also not a good idea to remove salty snacks and sweets from their diet. Instead, you can give them as rewards for finishing the meal or introduce them later. It will ensure that children don’t develop a hatred for the foods they don’t like. Moreover, sweets can also become a part of a healthy diet if included in moderation. But you have to remember to use these food items to reward good behaviour instead of using these to stop bad behaviour.
Help Them Recognize Hunger Signals.
While adults can differentiate between hunger and craving, children often struggle with it. Hence, they need to know when they are full or hungry by listening to their physical cues for hunger and fullness. By focusing more on the importance of nutrients, parents often imply to the kids they need to eat until they finish their food. But most parents end up teaching their children a lifelong habit of overeating. But you can prevent this unhealthy habit by allowing your children to listen to their hunger cues. So when your children stop eating and feel full, don’t force them to finish everything on their plate.
