Teaching Kids to Make Healthy Food Choices

When it comes to nutrition, kids tend to have a completely different view on the subject than their parents. To a child, anything that looks, smells, or feels good must be good for you. They have yet to discover that just because something looks good does not necessarily mean that it is good for you. As parents, we become their primary examples and that is a scary role indeed.

No matter how many times you tell a child to eat his fruits and vegetables, he will not actually do it if mom and dad are in the kitchen scarfing down forbidden treats. My 3 ½ year old tells me all the time, Mommy, chocolate makes you happy as a reason why he should have some, and while this is true, mommy probably eats more than her fair share of chocolate. When I try and explain that yes, it does in fact make me happy, but it isn't really that good for our bodies, he counters with, "but chocolate makes boys happy too.

It is important to start the education process early. Children as young as 18 months old can understand that a banana is good for them but the candy that they swindled out of grandma will not do much to help them grow big and strong. Nutrition can become something exciting to children if it is presented in the right way. Learning experiences can be incorporated into the dinner table conversations. Talk about which foods on your dinner plate give you strong bones and which ones give you good eyesight. Children love to learn about where food comes from. We play a guessing game when trying new fruits and vegetables. Does the food grow in the ground or on a tree?

Children are more likely to eat healthy food that they helped to prepare. Many times adults are reluctant to allow children to help in the kitchen because it makes a mess or it takes too long, but the time spent teaching a child such an important life skill will be repaid many times over in the future. Even very young children love to help pour ingredients into bowls or stir everything together. Beginning at 3-4 years old, depending on the child's abilities, children can begin to set the table. Allowing them to participate in meal preparation will let them feel that were a part of the dinner on their plate and encourage them to try unfamiliar foods.

Simple learning activities can increase a child's awareness of nutrition. Memory games using pictures of healthy food choices are a good way to remind kids of what things are good for their bodies. Sensory activities involving food such as painting with pudding, making play-dough, and kneading bread use more of children's senses.

Children can learn to love healthy food choices and be taught to make good choices on their own. Their own choices are the most important ones to their future because the eating habits they develop while they are young will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Activity: Food Choices

Supplies:

Magazines Paper Plates Scissors Glue

Cut pictures of food from magazines. I like to use grocery store ads because there are a lot of foods to choose from. Give each child a paper plate. Have them look at their pile of magazine clippings. Tell them they are cooking a dinner and they get to decide what they are going to eat. Talk about the different food groups and how it is important to make choices from all of them. Let the kids glue their dinner choices to the paper plate. After everyone is done you can talk about why you chose each food (taste, texture, nutritional value, etc.).

Rachel is a 25 year old mostly stay at home mom to 2 boys and a home daycare provider. She holds a BA in English.