By Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers

Make Healthy Choices Easy

 

The best way to encourage your child to successfully make healthy food choices is to have plenty of them available and to avoid or limit the number of unhealthy food choices in your home.

Here are some tips:

1. Serve and offer water all of the time.

2. Keep fruits and veggies on hand and ready to eat. Some ideas are carrot and celery sticks, snap peas, green beans, red pepper sticks, melon and pineapple chunks, bananas, apples, peaches. The list is endless.

3. Have an assortment of good snacks available, such as yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter and celery, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, rice cakes, whole-grain crackers and cheese.

4. Select lean meats and low-fat proteins, such eggs, nuts, tofu and beans. Avoid deep-fried foods. Healthier cooking methods include broiling, grilling, roasting and steaming.

5. Limit the amount of processed food you cook. As a general rule, buy  products that have common ingredients found in your kitchen, not the chemistry lab.

6. Limit fast food and other low-nutrient snacks, such as chips and candy.  You may decide to not ban them from your home. Instead, you can make them "once-in-a-while" foods.

7. Don't keep soda or sugary drinks in your house, and limit the amount of 100% real fruit juice your kids drink. 

 

About the authors: Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers are sisters, the mothers of five children and founders of Fresh Baby, creators of products such as homemade baby food kits, baby food cookbooks, baby food and breast milk storage trays, breastfeeding reminders, and child development diaries. Visit them online at www.FreshBaby.com and subscribe to their Fresh Ideas newsletter to get monthly ideas, tips and activities for developing your family's healthy eating habits!

Important disclaimer: The information on keepkidshealthy.com is for educational purposes only and should not be considered to be medical advice. It is not meant to replace the advice of the physician who cares for your child. All medical advice and information should be considered to be incomplete without a physical exam, which is not possible without a visit to your doctor.