A child forms a relationship with food from childhood. What a child eats and how he eats (how often, under what conditions, whether he chews slowly or swallows without chewing) affects the formation of his body and habits. Therefore, healthy eating habits should be formed from early childhood.
1. The child is looking at you
No recommendation regarding healthy eating from parents will be heard if the child sees that you yourself eat differently. The best guidance is your own example.
Try to gather at the table with the whole family as often as possible. Put a variety of healthy foods on the table. It is not necessary to cook a lot: to ensure a choice, it is enough to put a plate on the table with vegetables and greens, seasonal berries and nuts. Let the products on your table be colorful and attractive.
2. Choose natural products with minimal processing
Many health problems stem from the fact that we too often choose processed foods over whole, simple foods. When collecting a basket at the supermarket, choose whole grain cereals, fresh vegetables, berries and fruits, fish, meat, poultry, eggs, legumes.
Sausages and sausages, instant cereals, margarine baked goods are not natural products.
Pay attention to the amount of sugar and salt in the diet: choose mainly products without added sugar and with a moderate amount of salt. When preparing dishes, choose iodized salt: iodine is necessary for the functioning of the thyroid gland, the harmonious development of the child and its intellectual abilities.
In 2021, Ukraine updated the standards for school meals, at the state level, significantly lowering the norms of sugar and salt consumption for children. Their excess can lead to many diseases and endocrine disorders (more in chapters 4 and 5). When eating at home, you should be just as vigilant so as not to go beyond these norms and not harm your health.
Be sure to read the labels of the products you choose, the composition of the product should be clear to you.
The less processed the product, the better
An apple is better than applesauce. Puree is better than juice. Juice is better than jam. Jam is better than apple flavored soda.
Whole pearl or oat groats are better than rolled oats. Whole rolled oats are better than polished. Polished grain is better than flour. Flour is better than granola with syrup.
Stewed beef is better than fried in oil. Baked meat, even with a crust, is better than sausages.
3. Cook together
Cooking breakfast or dinner together, going to the store or market for groceries, picking vegetables, fruits and greens in your own garden are good opportunities to tell your child about different products and how to create a healthy plate (chapter 3).
At the market, the child may be interested in various varieties of fruits, vegetables, greens that are not often found in the store. And zucchini and tomatoes from their own garden, collected with their own hands, are eaten more willingly.
If you did not have such a tradition before, the child may not agree to help prepare an omelette or go shopping the first time. Don't get tired of offering.
Try different approaches: Your child may enjoy finding recipes together and then implementing them in the kitchen. Or maybe she is willing to read a book about vegetables or fruits to learn how they get to our table.
4. More vegetables and fruits — less sweets and fast food
Vegetables and fruits contain many nutrients, vitamins, as well as fiber, which feeds the beneficial bacteria living in the intestines, responsible for digestion, assimilation of vitamins, and affects metabolism.
Instead, sweet and salty treats like chips, crackers and hotdogs can lead to overweight and teenage obesity. Sugar can cause caries, trans fats can lead to diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems.
5. Avoid strict dietary restrictions
Often healthy food is seen as routine or punishment, while ice cream or chocolate becomes a reward for good behavior or good grades in school. A family trip to a pizzeria is definitely a holiday, and at the family table you can often hear: "You will get candy only after you eat the salad."
A balanced diet means a balanced diet that can include a variety of foods. About 80% of the daily diet should be natural products with minimal processing: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, berries, greens, meat, eggs, fish, nuts. But you should not categorically forbid either yourself or your child "food for joy", because any strict prohibitions can lead to eating disorders in the future: anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating. By the way, "healthy" food can also bring joy, because it can be prepared deliciously and with pleasure.