Developing healthy eating habits

Children develop a natural preference for what they eat most often and enjoy. The challenge is to make healthy choices appealing. No matter how good your intentions, trying to convince your eight-year-old that an apple is as sweet a treat as a cookie is not a recipe for success! However, you can ensure that your children’s diet is as nutritious and wholesome as possible, even when allowing for some of their favorite treats. You can please both your child’s palate and your sense of parental responsibility.

Because the childhood impulse to imitate is strong, the best move you can make to start your child off on the right dietary foot is to be a role model, so that when your youngster asks to taste what you're eating, your plate is filled with healthy selections. If you're asking your child to eat vegetables and fish while you graze on potato chips and soda, your actions will override your good intentions.

Top tips to promote healthy childhood eating

• Have regular family meals. Knowing dinner is served at approximately the same time every night and that the entire family will be sitting down together is comforting, enhances appetite, and provides a perfect opportunity for your children to share what's on their minds. Breakfast is another great time for a family meal, especially since kids who eat breakfast tend to do better in school.
• Cook more meals at home. Eating home cooked meals is healthier for the whole family and sets a great example for kids about the importance of food. Restaurant meals tend to have more fat, sugar and salt. Save dining out for special occasions.
• Get kids involved. Children enjoy helping adults grocery shop, selecting what goes in their lunch box, and preparing dinner. It's also a chance for you to teach them about the nutritional values of different foods, and (for older children) how to read food labels.
• Make a variety of healthy foods available and keep your pantry free of empty calorie snacks.Keep plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grain snacks and healthful beverages (filtered water, milk, herbal tea, occasional fruit juice) around and easily accessible so kids become used to reaching for healthy snacks when they're hungry instead of empty calorie snacks like soda, chips, or cookies.
• Let them choose. Don't make mealtimes a battleground by insisting a child clean the plate, and never use food as a reward or bribe.