Making Healthy Eating a Habit

-lead by example. Foods you should be eating, the entire family should be. they won't grow up to eat breakfast if you don't.

-introduce a new fruit or vegetable each week, have the kids choose from a list (http://www.dole5aday.com/ReferenceCenter/NutritionCenter/Chart/R_NutrChart.jsp?topmenu=1)

-have a list of snacks that they can have when they get home from school

-use natural alternatives to sugary products. Berries instead of syrup on pancakes,

-work on getting regular eating times. 4-6 snacks and meals a day is recommended

-have fruits and vegetables already cut up and easily accessible

-have the kids help pick out the fruits and vegetables at the store, younger kids will want to eat the one's they picked out especially

-water or milk with meals, no sugary drinks while they are eating

-eat together so the kids can see you enjoying new and nutritious foods

-make small changes to begin. less sugary drinks, switch to whole wheat products, add fruits and veggies to every meal

Ingredients/Learning to Read Labels

-As with anything, kids will learn the concept quicker than adults

-teach them to look for certain aspects for different foods (ie low sugar and high fiber for cereal)

-labels are based on an average 2,000 calorie diet. Teach them what their healthy estimation should be for their age, size, and activity level

-go with age appropriate levels. Young kids can learn about sugars and fats on the labels. Tweens will move to everything else they can read on the label

-teach kids that if they can't pronounce it, then it's probably not good for them

-serving size helps you teach portions

-always keep sodium, saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol low

-servings over 400 calories are high

-check to see if the servings on the container are the servings you are actually eating regularly

-sodium should be under 140mg to keep it low per serving

Introducing New Foods

- first step is to consider any allergies your child might have and be prepared to handle those

- talk about the new food, what it's called, it's nutrients, how it's important in our diet and why it tastes good

- discuss experiences, is this a food you've eaten? tell them about the first time you tried the same food

- try new foods together, is there a certain fruit or vegetable you've never had? Try it together!

- find a way to combine a new food with an old favorite, for example if you want them to try brocolli, and you know they like nachos serve brocollli with cheese sauce

- make a "color" dinner where everything is green, everything is white, etc .... it makes trying something different a little more fun

- have a luncheon, find a friend or playmate that already likes the food and invite them over for lunch and prepare the new food for the kids, when they see another child enjoying it they will be more likely to taste

- wait for an ideal moment when your child is hungry to offer the new food as a snack/lunch/dinner and they'll be less likely to pass on the item

- stay positive and patient, they may not like it on this first try or cooked in a certain way but they may like it prepared a diffferent way

- make it fun, add it to a veggie pizza, or other fun presentation that your child can help you prepare

Healthy Snacks

- give a variety of healthy choices, healthy doesn't have to be boring

- make it a smoothie, nothing is more fun than a smoothie and it's a great way to give the kids some fresh fruit, add a scoop of yogurt and it's as filling as it is good!

- make a mini veggie tray, nothing is more fun after school than a plate of cold veggies with a bit of dip in the center

- apples don't have to be boring, slice it up and spread peanut butter on the slices and sprinkle with raisins for a fun and healthy treat

- pear slices and cheese cubes make a great combination of fruit and dairy

- air popped popcorn is probably one of the most popular and long lasting snacks for kids and grown ups alike, it's low fat and as long as you don't smother it in butter and salt it's a decent snack. If you want some more flavor on your popcorn sprinkle with cinnamon or other flavors

- graham crackers and milk are great for a mid morning snack, a small glass of milk and few graham crackers instead of sugary cookies to dunk

- rice cakes with a flavored and colorful hummus spread can actually become a child's favorite pretty quickly, once they realize that hummus isn't as scary as it sounds

- wrap it up: grab some tortillas, cheese, lunchmeat, whatever else you can find in the fridge and make snack wraps. Even peanut butter and jelly snack wraps, everything just tastes more fun as a "wrap" or a "roll up"

- mix it up, make a snack mix from dried fruits, nuts, pretzels etc... let the kids help with this one and you can divide up into individual serving snack cups to grab and go in lunches and backpacks

- juice: But be choosy about your juice and juice boxes, you want 100% juice not a "juice drink" as those can be loaded with added sugar and excess stuff that is really no better for you than sodas and other sugary drinks

- if you're buying prepackaed individual serving snacks look for healthier options instead of the usual sugary frosted cookies in a bag, like yogurt cups, cheese sticks, gelatin, pudding cups, whole wheat crackers, etc.

Making Meal Time Fun

-have the kids choose a new recipe each week to try from a healthy cookbook, try to make the meal look like the picture

-plan out a weeks menu and let the kids choose what you will have for dinner each day from that menu

-have the kids cook their favorite meal with you

-cut everything possible into cute shapes. Sandwiches, cheese, deli meats

-have meals with a family with a rule of no argueing or talking about anything negative

-theme nights, cook a theme meal, dress up, and talk about that theme during dinner (countries,unbirthday party,holiday,etc)

-have indoor picnics with disposable plates, utensils, blanket on the floor, and of course healthier picnic type foods

-make an entire meal with only finger foods. NO untensils allowed

-have the kids decorate for the meal, make placemats, place cards, signs, menu's

-start a questions basket for meal time. (what would your three wishes be, what is your favorite color, what is your favorite outfit, etc)

-have breakfast for dinner and eat in your jammies

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