With decreasing life spans, magnifying health issues and increasing focus on health and well-being, people all over the world are turning to healthier habits. They are investing in apps and self-help books and even taking the help of nutritionists. But what if your child can avoid this rigmarole by staying healthy from the get-go?
Easier said than done, right?
Sure, but children are quick learners. It doesn’t matter what you teach them, but the ‘how’ is what will make the difference between them reaching for a bowl of salad over a donut.
Here are a few tips to get your kids started on the health bandwagon at an early age –
1. Be your child’s role model
No matter how much you feel that your kids don’t listen to you, you are their role models hence how you act, talk, eat, cook, is constantly under observation. If you adopt healthy eating habits, if you cook healthy food and talk about food in a healthy manner, then your kids will imitate that and try and adopt that behavior.
2. Talk about food in a healthy manner
Now what does that mean? If you categorize some food items as ‘bad’ and some as ‘good’ or react harshly with a ‘Eww…I hate spinach’, your kids are going to learn to categorize foods accordingly. Instead, avoid putting labels on food. Sugar and chocolates and anything in excess is bad and not the food itself – and that is the mantra that you should follow.
3. Don’t pressurize your kids
Kids popularly do the exact opposite of what you tell them to do. So, if you pressurize or push your kids towards broccoli or spinach, they are more likely to reject those foods. Instead, casually include those food items in your regular meals without making a huge deal about them. Don’t get into power struggles with them around food.
4. Let your kids participate
Often we hear parents talk about tricks to get kids to eat healthy, like when they include kale in the delicious smoothie and the kid never finds out. This works because the kid eats healthy and there is no problem of the kid throwing a fit about not wanting to eat kale.
However, the fact that kids don’t even know they are eating healthy, would mean that the healthy-eating habit itself is not being inculcated in them.
Instead of this under-the-table, secretive healthy food inclusion tactic, let your kids participate in preparing the food. Ask them to peel the carrots or maybe even help put the carrots in the blender. Let your kids cook with you. Including kids in preparation of a meal is surprisingly important. Other than teaching responsibility, the knowledge of what goes into their meal for their nourishing body, and the excitement over the efforts they put in to making the meal, cooking is also a great way to connect with them in your busy schedule.
5. Participation beyond preparation
Going a step further from letting your kids participate, would be to take your kids to a local farm. Let your kids pick those berries or take them to a farm where they learn how a certain vegetable is grown. This will not only add to their knowledge but will also encourage lifelong love for the produce after learning it is not just shelved in the supermarket. In addition to this, occasionally give your kids a choice to select and buy what veggies and fruits they want to eat.
This will automatically turn the kids to actively choosing how they eat instead of parents forcing them into eating healthy.
To learn on how to instilling good eating habits and avoiding power struggles from an early age can help the mental well-being of your child, reach out to our therapist Daisy Vergara.
