How to Get Kids to Eat Healthy While at Home
Tips for Getting Kids to Eat Healthy
How Can You Teach Your Kids to Eat More Healthy at Home?
Right now we are all spending a lot of time at home. That means we are more sedentary. Including our children.
Even if you have the luxury of dropping your kids off at public school or daycare, there is still a lot of time that you spend together at home, and this article can still be a great help!
The junk food choices seem a whole lot more enticing when you know they are right there around the corner and not in the vending machine in the cafeteria.
And they also seem to call to you more when you aren’t keeping yourself so busy running around with the day to day.
Home cooked dinners with fresh ingredients like theses super easy dump and go crockpot dinner ideas are a great place to start!
But even then, getting your kids to stop begging for chips and ice cream every day is really tough.
What if you are SUPER busy? Working from home, virtual schooling, and the like?
Can you really get your kids eating more healthy when you are stretched so thin you don’t know how you can possibly have fresh and healthy choices available for every meal and snack?
What if you feel lost with how to start your kids eating more healthy.
There are lots of easy tips and tricks that you can apply in your house starting today that can make a world of difference in how healthy your family eats.
They are simple changes that might be embraced, or might be hit with a lot of resistance!
Either way, they are important and easy changes to make that will result in healthy weights, increased immune systems, more sustained energy, better sleep, and overall a healthier family.
It takes 3 weeks to establish a new habit. So once these changes are made, give it a month before they are fully accepted by the kids. Some changes might happen over night, others will take up to the full month to be accepted as as new family rule.
Learn more about how to apply this tip in how to get your picky eater to eat anything.
Changes to Make Today to Get Your Kids Eating Healthy
1. Teach Your Kids About My Plate
So one thing that you can teach your children about immediately before making any dietary changes that feel drastic is called “my plate.” It is a modern simple portion control way to eat. Here’s how it looks.
You can find “myplate” worksheets through Pinterest and Google for any grade. It is really helpful if your children first understand what constitutes a balanced meal and also why they should eat that way.
While super specific portion control with containers is a highly effective way for adults to apply healthy eating habits and lose weight or regain health, it is not necessary to be so strict with kids under most circumstances.
Myplate is a realistic and applicable portion control for your kids. If they learn now why they should make healthy choices and HOW to make healthy choices, you will be met with much less resistance in the following steps.
2. Pick up some My Plate portion control plates
Teaching your kids about how a balanced meal looks is awesome! And it just might be enough to get you started on the right track.
Many kids learn best with visual connections. There are these super cute “my plate” style portion control plates for kids that really help them see what a balanced meal should look like.
Your kids don’t have to fill every square inch of the plate, but it gives you a great idea of how much of each type of food you should have in proportion to the others.
There are plates available in sizes from toddler through high school.
Once your kids understand what a balanced meal should look like and how to build one, it’s time to begin removing some of the worst foods for your family from the house that will make a world of difference in your families’ health.
3. Get rid of white calories.
- White bread
- anything made with white wheat= (pastas, cookies, crackers, etc.)
- white rice. (My kiddos love white rice so I often do 50/50 with white and brown rice or even brown rice and quinoa)
I’m not saying you need to omit those foods at all. Simply opt for whole wheat varieties or even try gluten free version!
4. Get rid of sugar.
5. Try to minimize processed food.
6. Cut out the sugary drinks.
7. It is a common misconception that eating healthy is harder or takes longer than convenience foods.
8. Another misconception is that it is more expensive to eat healthy.
9. Try slow cooker and freezer meals.
Some MORE tricks to help your kids eat healthier.
1. I’d normally advise to let your kids pick out stuff at the store.
2. Then let your kids help make their meals.
3. Move the unhealthy choices away.
Wrapping Up How to Help Your Children to Eat More Healthy
You are doing a great job mama. And you are on the right track to get your family’s nutrition on track! You are strong and capable and you can make these simple shifts in your household to help keep your family strong and healthy.
Make changes slowly. Adapt. Learn together. And create healthy lifestyle changes that are sustainable!
Feel free to reach out with any other questions you may have about family health, nutrition, fitness, or cooking in the comments below or at vigoritout@gmail.com
Which of these tips do you think will have the most resistance within your family? And which do you see as the most important?
More Healthy Family Recipes from Vigor it Out
- Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes
- Homemade Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
- Healthy Lunchbox Ideas for Kids
- Easy Slow Cooker Homemade Vegetable Soup