How to encourage healthy eating habits for kids

• Optimal growth and development – adopting a diet with the right nutrients is pivotal to fuel growing bodies.
• Brain development – the types of food a child consumes can affect their focus and cognitive skills. Foods such as fish, seeds and oats are shown to improve concentration.
• Lifestyle in later years – adopting healthy eating habits in early years will make it easier children to make healthier choices as an adult.
• Energy – Children learn through play and energy from healthy food is needed to sustain activity. This also aids concentration which is important in the classroom.
• The prevention of diseases – diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure as well as obesity can all be prevented by adopting healthier food and lifestyle choices.
• Improve mental health – foods containing certain nutrients e.g. omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and magnesium are shown to have positive associations with emotional well-being.

• Involve your child in food shopping: a supermarket visit is a great opportunity to teach children about the different food groups and what to look out for in food labels.  
• Cook together: involving your child in cooking is not only a great bonding activity, it can also encourage them to try new foods they discover during preparation and cooking.

• Make healthy snacks available: kids are often peckish for something sweet. Keep small bags of fruit and vegetables instead of sweets or air-popped popcorn instead of crisps for these situations.
• Avoid complete restriction - don’t ban sweets entirely, this may lead to overindulging when given the chance. Explain to your child that this is okay when eaten in moderation.
• If your child has picky eating habits, encourage them to enjoy a wider variety of food – g. presenting one new food item at a time (patience is key), making this creative by cutting foods into unusual shapes when serving, making a food collage out of vegetables and serving new foods alongside their favourite foods.
• Lead by example: children learn through imitation. Regularly eating healthy foods around your child can encourage them to explore new foods.
• Disguise the taste of healthier foods – not every child is going to enjoy eating vegetables. Consider mashing vegetables or adding them to a stew. Or could cut up apples and dip them in dark chocolate.  
• Use multimedia: there are many songs and rhymes that can help children learn about the importance of nutrition. E.g. the vegetable song, Superdooperfoodalicious, Food Groups are Rockin’ Tonight.