How to Encourage Kids to Make Healthy Choices

One of a parent’s main responsibilities toward their children is to help them learn how to take care of themselves. A big part of that is taking care of their health, and showing them the best choices to make to keep them living long, happy lives. These are a few easy changes to make to encourage your kids to make healthier choices.

Model Good Behavior

Kids learn by watching what you do. If you want them to make healthier choices, now is the perfect time for you to live healthier as well. Allow your children to see the healthy food you’re eating, and the recipes you’re excited about. If you treat something as an exciting event, your children will take on the same emotion. Because children are still developing and growing, they’re very influenced by their environment. Expose them to a lot of new, different healthy food options. The more they see and are surrounded by healthy food, the more it will become a habit to eat healthy.

Buy More Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are two of the most important food groups for your child’s development. These fresh, plant foods provide your children with essential vitamins and minerals that they need to be healthy. There are also a lot of ways to make fruits and vegetables more exciting for your children. To help them eat more fruit, have them help you make a smoothie with all their favorite flavors. You can even sneak some veggies in here too. Adding leafy greens to smoothies can provide lots of nutrition, but it doesn’t change the taste of the smoothie. Other ways to incorporate veggies are trying cauliflower rice, or add shredded zucchini to pasta sauces and watch as your kids gobble them up. However, be sure to include variety in your fruits and vegetables. Too many acidic fruits can harm your child’s teeth.

Give Them Choices

Many parents aren’t sure how to get their picky eaters to incorporate more healthy options into their diets. One of the best ways to keep your kids eating healthy is to give them choices between a handful of things. This helps them feel like they have some autonomy and choice in the matter, and still allows you to cook healthier options. Allow them to choose between a handful of options for what you’ll cook them for a meal or snack.

Every parent wants their kids to make healthy choices and develop good habits as they grow up. It can be stressful to know what you can do as a parent to help this process along. However, these are a few small changes you can make to help your kids make healthier choices.

Check out this article on how to make brushing fun for kids!