Encourage Kids to Healthy Eating

Encouraging kids (at any age) to healthy eating may provide a positive connection with food as they grow and well into their adult life.
Here are some nutrition tips for the entire family to get involved and learn together.

1. Try to choose a healthy food item that you and your child would like to try for the week.

2. Learn together about that food item that you chose; where it originated, how it is grown, and the best way to prepare & serve it.

3. Search for recipes that you and your child may enjoy with that food item that you have chosen. Find a recipe that you can prepare together in the kitchen. Involving kids in the decision-making process helps build confidence, allows them to feel included & especially excited to cook & try that new food item!

4. Once you & your child have shopped, prepared & cooked the healthy food item, learn to pair it with other foods to help balance your plate and how to serve it. This allows you and your child to be creative which is part of the learning process & builds a connection with food. Have fun with them and ask them to come up with a name for the dish.

5. Have an open dialogue with your children about why they chose that food item & the dish they made. Was it the colour, or the name of that healthy food item that brought their attention?
Allow them to have discussions with the rest of the family (siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins) that are joining you & your children at the table to eat. Especially, talk about the taste, texture, smell, or flavour of that food item or dish that you enjoy eating together. Have a conversation about how you can fit this food item or dish into weekly meals in the future.

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