5 Powerful Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy
With childhood obesity and other childhood disorders on the rise, everyone from doctors to teachers to parents are seeking solutions for better health for kids. At the most basic level, everyone can agree that all kids can benefit from eating healthier.
Did you know that childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years?
That being said, with all of the glitzy candy and process foods competing for your kids’ attention, how do you get them to eat healthy meals? Over the years, we have found many solutions, but we also salute the creative Altman Fitness parents who have shared their tips for making healthy food for their kids.
Here are 5 powerful ways to get your kids to eat healthy:
1. Change up old favorites. Think about the foods your kids love, and make something that tastes and looks similar – with different healthy ingredients. Altman Fitness parent Molly Nolski’s teenage daughter, Caroline, made her favorite coffee cake by substituting butter with ghee, processed flour with quinoa flour, and sugar with Stevia.
2. Be creative. Try some of the clever “tricks” used by advertisers to make new foods sound exciting to your kids. One ingenious Altman Fitness mom made pasta out of zucchini and called them “good luck noodles” because of their green color. Let’s face it, kids tend to gravitate toward fun wrappings and funny names on packaged foods, so if you are making pumpkin soup, you might call it “Halloween Pumpkin Soup” to catch their interest.
3. Take your time. If your kids are used to eating candy and chips, it may take time to get their taste buds to acclimate to healthy food for kids – especially those with a sour taste, like fermented foods and beverages. Instead of rushing it, remember the Step By Step Principle: take it slow and build over time. Trust that every small step you take toward healthy eating will have big rewards over a lifetime! Add some new foods into those “old favorites” a little at a time, and see what happens. One clever Altman Fitness parent, Nicole Beglesdorf, added one teaspoon of Young Coconut Kefir to her daughter Alexis’ regular “junky” juice and continued to increase the amount until he was drinking one to two cups of Young Coconut Kefir per day! (And loving it, by the way.) Soon juice wasn’t even needed.
4. Arm yourself with easy healthy recipes. Gather up some easy healthy recipes and experiment until you find the ones your kids take a liking to. Make small amounts and have “taste tests” with your kids, giving an award to the recipes your kids like the best. Remember to keep a go-to file with all of the “award winners” on hand!
5. Keep it simple and fun! Changing habits and making meals can feel daunting when they are complicated and require too many steps. Focus on keeping it simple. Focus on picking the easiest and simplest meals, and one meal per day to begin. Then build from there to build your healthy family for years to come. Above all, keep it simple, yummy and fun!
Committed to your health
Jay Altman