5 Ways for Kids to Form Healthy Food Habits

At some point, most parents wonder if their school-age kids are eating healthy.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 out of 5 children struggles with obesity.  Obesity occurs when an individual’s weight is higher than what is considered healthy for their height and age.  While some groups are affected more than others, all children face an increased risk of overweight and obesity. Due to the availability of high-calorie, high-fat, and highly sugared foods.

Developing healthy eating patterns at home and at school is a great place to start teaching beneficial habits. Here are some helpful tips:

1. Model healthy habits. Parents are the biggest influencers of what their kids eat. As adults, we are responsible for the foods and beverages that enter the home. Fresh fruit and vegetables are much healthier snacks than chips and cookies.
2. Pack healthy lunches with all the food groups represented. Print out a picture of MyPlate and have your kids help with the planning, shopping, and preparation of their lunches. Kids are more likely to eat the meal when they are involved in the planning.
3. Keep a snack basket handy for after-school munchies. Decide what you want your kid to snack on.  Create a snack basket with healthy foods (can create a non-refrigerated one and one for the refrigerator).  Examples can include Greek yogurt and pretzels, pita chips and hummus, graham crackers, bananas, and peanut butter, or a piece of whole fruit.
4. At dinner, give the kids age-appropriate meal preparation tasks. These could be peeling potatoes or carrots to measuring, mixing, and pouring.  Kids involved in cooking develop life-long skills such as measuring and math skills, higher food acceptance, and pride in their meals and cultural foods.
5. According to Ellyn Satter, MS, RD, building a healthy relationship with food means developing healthy eating behaviors, which have a distinct division of responsibility.  With regards to meals, parents should decide what, when, and where and children should decide how much or whether.  This means parents should not turn into short order cooks for their picky child and children should not be forced to eat foods they don’t want.

This article was written by Registered Dietitian Leslie Goudarzi, MS, RD, LD, CNSC