Chuck those chips! Bin those biscuits! There are plenty of ways to get your kids to eat healthy snacks. Writer Martha Worthington sets out her suggestions for success
"Your kids are such healthy eaters; you’re so lucky,” some people remark. Lucky? There’s no luck here, I always think, just persistence, creativity and the occasional trickery and bribery. Let’s face it: kids naturally prefer sugary, fatty foods, and mine are no different; they’d live on sweets and crisps if given the chance.
When snack time rolls around, being a busy parent can mean that you’re tempted to give them a quick option: a biscuit, a bit of cake etc. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s how I’m winning the game.
10 Top Tips
- Buy only healthy snacks and healthy snack ingredients. Keep nuts, seeds and veggies as well as fresh, tinned and dried fruit on hand at all times. Remember: if you don’t buy junk food, they can’t eat it!
- At snack time, give your kids a choice of two or three healthy options. That way, they enjoy exercising a certain degree of choice, while learning to accept that unhealthy options simply ‘aren’t on the menu’.
- Establish a regular snack time (say, between 2:30 and 3:30). This makes it easier to stick to regular mealtimes, as well as avoiding under-eating (or over-eating) at suppertime.
- Offering your children healthy snacks, especially fruit and vegetables, means that they’ll get more of the nutrients they need each day. (It can be hard to squeeze all the required nutrients into the main courses, after all!)
- Change snacks regularly, or try serving an old favourite with a new twist – variety will help push their taste boundaries.
- Be firm and be consistent – let your kids know where you stand. Don’t send your kids the message that you will cave into their demands for junk food if they pester you enough.
- You can try reserving one particular day of the week for a less-healthy snack. For example, Wednesday could be pudding day or chocolate day, and then give your child one normal portion. Let them know beforehand that they will get that and nothing more. This cuts out the daily battles.
- If you do have any unhealthy treats in the house, store them out of sight and certainly out of reach. Even the most honest child can be tempted to sneak treats when you’re not looking.
- Instead of giving a junk snack as a reward for good behaviour, offer a toy or a privilege instead.
- Be a good role model. Let children see you eating healthy snacks yourself.
Martha Worthington hails from America, land of the Big Mac, supersize soft drink and double order of fries, and as such has had plenty of opportunity to witness first-hand the ill effects of a poor diet. Accordingly, she’s proud to be passing on good eating habits to her two children, Tess (age 6½) and Katie (nearly 5). As well as being a busy mum, she works as a part-time freelance writer/subeditor/copyeditor
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To find out more visit the Change4Life website
Comments
Hi
I agree with Martha. As a working mother and teacher I know how time poor we are during the week trying to get children off to sports and to do their homework and then to cook an evening meal. Did you know a recent British study found that nine out of ten mothers admitted cooking the same meals repeatedly week after week, and three quarters of the mothers chose their meals based on how quick they were to make rather than based on how healthy the meals were.
However, we’re more aware of the health benefits for our children from providing healthy kids food, but I found a lot of the information on the web regarding healthy kids food not easy to understand.
It is for this reason I decided to do something about it and decided to create a website called www.kidshealthyrecipes.com for other parents who want easy to understand information on kids nutrition and simple, good, healthy recipes that you can use for family meals. Here are some of the family favourite healthy recipes
Its all about moderation, and giving the children an understanding about the fun and joy of cooking. I love cooking with my children and look forward to the weekends when we can cook together especially home made pizzas or preparing healthy school lunches. One of our favourite snacks is banana bread made with wholemeal flour, brown sugar and dates. Far better than anything shop bought, and my daughter loves making it for us!
Martha is right - it isn't easy to get kids to eat healthily. Being consistent is something I found was really important, but also hard work some days. You also have to set an example and avoid being a hypocrite by eating all the bad stuff yourself. Giving treats in moderation is also the key - I tell my daughter that chocolate eclairs are fine, but not 3 at once, and not every day! Balancing the healthy food with the indulgent is another way to persuade them to eat well e.g. a small piece of chocolate plus an apple as an after school snack; a banana alongside the breakfast cereal.