3 Tips to Get Your Children to Eat Healthy Food

Hey there mamas and papas,

Many of my clients are parents, and I often hear the same complaints about how challenging it can be to feed your children the healthy way.

It hasn’t been so easy for me either, especially now that Isabella, my eldest daughter, is in kindergarten. She is now faced with copious amounts of sugar and artificial food colourings, etc. from school and birthday parties. Eeek!!

Over the years, I have discovered some simple techniques that I use daily to make sure that my daughters develop a healthy relationship with food and that they get all the vital nutrition they need to grow up healthy and happy.

Here are my 3 best tips on feeding young children:
1. RELAX. This one is a really important one for the parents who are conscious about health and stress about making sure your little ones get all the nutrition they need. You come from a caring and loving place, but when they don’t comply, you give off that scary PLEASE JUST EAT YOUR BROCCOLI vibe. When you are stressed, so are your children, And this creates a negative association with eating, especially the healthy stuff you want them to eat! Physiologically, your child will have his guard up and the stress mechanism will cause their digestive system to shut off. This can eventually lead to constipation, loose bowels, stomach aches, etc.

Tip: Create a calm environment in your home around food. Take a few deep breaths, smile, and remind yourself and your children about gratitude for family time and nourishing food.

2. GIVE THEM A CHOICE. Children like to feel like they have control, and rightfully so. When you have some healthy options for them to choose from, they will feel more in control and are more likely to enjoy their food. We, as parents, have to remember that children are actually very intuitive and know what their bodies need. And remember, just because they had something once or twice and said they didn’t like it, it doesn’t mean they won’t like it forever. Try again in different recipes. It takes about 7 tries for our pallets to start liking a new flavour!

Tip: Involve your children in the decision making process about meals. Communicate with them, take them shopping with you, and let them be a part of the cooking process. Have different options for them to choose from.

3. MAKE IT FUN. Your children might be past the age of playing the airplane sound game, but the fun doesn’t stop there! My girls love it when we decorate the table, light candles, or use fancy glasses.
They also listen attentively when I share what different foods can do for their body. Like carrots can make you see in the dark, egg yolks will make you read words better, and almonds make you grow taller. They eat it up!! Another suggestion we have is using marker board paint on a spare wall in your kitchen, we have heard great things about this and it works perfectly on any wall! Draw up a reward chart and allow your child to draw a different object in their chart each time they eat something healthy; at the end of the week, reward them with a day out or a new cuddly toy.

Tip: Expand on quinoa is good for you ~ quinoa will make you fun faster and jump higher! And have fun.

BONUS TIP: Put vegetables in everything!! I’m not saying that you need to hide vegetables from your kids, I’m just saying get creating and put veggies in every dish. The more they taste them, the more they get used to the flavour and start to naturally like them.

Here are a few recipes I have created with the help of my girls:
Make Your Own Nutella
Wild Blueberry and Pear Smoothie
Brown Rice and Cranberry Cookies
Oatmeal with Blueberries and Hemp
Coconut Mango Nice Cream
Calming Zen Tea Pops
Toasted Oat Muesli with Golden Berries

That’s my Isabella (she’s 5 now) sitting on the countertop eating pancakes and watching mama make them and helping to mix the batter. (here is the recipe for the Coconut Blueberry Pancakes she’s enjoying!)

An here she is 4 years later, fully advanced to sous chef extraordinaire! She LOVES juicing!! Which is awesome because I don’t!

Here are tasks that I ask her to help me with:
– Making her own snacks (fruit, trail mix, applesauce, crackers and hummus dip)
– Juicing fruits and vegetables
– Smoothies
– Slicing soft fruits like banana and kiwi
– Washing produce
– Mixing batters
– Putting toppings on homemade pizza
– Making toast and spreading toppings
– Homemade ice cream
– Slicing, shredding, and blending with the food processor (don’t worry, I supervise)
– Setting the table
– Clearing the table
– Pouring drinks
– Rolling up energy balls

I have taken the girls to Farmer’s Markets every summer, which is always such a positive experience:)