Healthy eating hints and tips
There’s a lot of talk about the environment we currently find ourselves in, where children are
faced with widespread access to less nutritious foods and soft drinks, an endless array of electronic entertainment choices and a mass media that bombards them with the message to CONSUME!
Despite all that, we, as parents of young children, still hold sway over the home environment - we are in charge, or should be, of what’s in the fridge and freezer. We know that what happens at home has the greatest influence on our children’s nutritional intake. What’s in the house will dictate what the kids will eat!
Rather than starting a revolution, lead by example. As parents, we can model good eating and activity habits ourselves, provide quick but nourishing family meals and set limits on (not ban) foods with little nutritional value
Top tips for breakfast
Breakfast is important for everyone and children are no exception. Research suggests that eating first thing in the morning can help keep food cravings under control – good news for parents whose children are particularly keen on chocolate and sweets!
Ideally a child’s breakfast should be high in fibre and vitamin content and where possible, low in saturated fat and sugar – a small bowl of wholegrain cereal is ideal
Avoid cereals that are high in sugar as some people think that too much can cause children to become tired and irritable later in the morning as their blood sugar levels crash. If necessary sweeten wholegrain cereal with natural sweeteners.
Stick to wholegrain or brown bread for toast with a modest amount of butter or jam.
Quick breakfast ideas:
- Glass of fruit juice and a bowl of breakfast cereal with milk. (Pick a cereal which is high in fibre and whole grains, low in salt, and without lots of added sugar).
- Microwave porridge and honey with cool milk (tastes much nicer than it sounds – and you can add things like raisins instead of honey to sweeten it).
- Fruit yoghurt and 2 little slices of wholemeal toast and honey.
Top tips for lunch
A good healthy lunchbox should contain freshly prepared sandwiches, preferably with some vegetable content such as grated carrot or tomatoes, a portion of fruit and a carton of natural fruit juice. Avoid pre-packed processed foods that are high in saturated fat and salt and carbonated soft drinks that often contain high levels of sugar and sweeteners
Get children involved in making their school lunch. Ask them to pick something from each of these four groups in order to get a wide range of essential nutrients.
- Carbohydrate foods – bread (wholemeal if possible), wraps, pitta bread, rice cakes,
bread sticks, crackers (wholemeal if possible), selection of rolls and baps. - Protein group - Cold meats such as ham/ turkey/chicken, tuna or hummus.
- Vitamins and Minerals - Any fresh fruit, mini boxes of raisins, dried fruit like mango, apricots and dates, carrot sticks, salad veg.
- Calcium – Yoghurt drinks, yoghurt pots, small cartons of milk, cheese cubes or strings.
- Treats – Mini chocolate bars, low salt/fat crisps, mini muffins, cereal bar, digestive biscuits. Treat foods are occasional foods. They’re fine as long as your child is active enough and they are not displacing other more nourishing foods from the diet.
Top tips for the whole family
- Try to eat meals together - this is where we can talk and educate each other about different foods and how they can help us to grow, have enough energy for play and concentrate on getting the homework done in gig time!
- Remember actions speak louder than words. Show your child how much you enjoy nutritious foods yourself.
- Try to avoid telling your children to “take one more bite” or “clean your plate” when they’re full
- Devise a healthy snack list with your children. Stick it on the refrigerator.
- Teach your children to cook, and also how to read and understand the information on food labels.
- Encourage your children to play outside whenever feasible. Play with them whenever you can!
- On the weekend, live life instead of watching it on TV. Find a new place to hike, bike or walk.
As many parents will know, changing the way food is prepared can go a long way to winning over fussy eaters. Chopping fruit in bite size pieces, using wholemeal pitas or wraps instead of bread for sandwiches, blending fruit into a smoothie or hiding vegetables in mashed potato are all tried and tested ways to help children eat more healthily
