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It shouldn’t surprise you that about 1/3 of American children are considered overweight. With such busy lives it’s too easy to frequent the fast food drive-thru. But in order to keep your children healthy follow these easy tips and stay away from that oh-so-tempting fast food.
Because children are still growing it’s important not to significantly reduce their caloric intake. Their bodies need calories in order to develop properly. When helping your kids eat healthy it’s more important to focus on what foods they are eating rather than how much; they need to eat until they feel satisfied.
Not all fat is bad; but Trans fat are those that should definitely be avoided. If you regularly give your children food with high trans fats, cut that out of his/her diet and replace it with a healthy counterpart.
When serving breads and pastas, offer whole wheat for a healthier approach. If kids don’t like the taste at first, add another flavor to it and they’ll get used to the new bread soon enough. Peanut butter and jelly or low fat lunchmeat with light mayonnaise will help mask the flavor until their taste buds adjust. When you add spaghetti sauce or any other sauce to the pasta the kids will not even notice a difference.
Canned salmon is very good for your kids and makes for a healthy sandwich alternative; and if your kids like tuna, chances are they’ll like this too.
Fruits and veggies should be given to your children often. And don’t be afraid to vary the types of fruits that they eat. Be creative and let the kids enjoy these natural treats. Don’t forget about smoothies; they’re easy to make and most kids will suck them down.
Vegetables can be topped with cheese, served cooked, or raw for a variety of tastes for your little ones. If you have kids that refuse to eat veggies, here’s a sneaky trick. Grate some veggies up really small and add them to a dish. If the flavor of the dish is strong enough, the kids will never know the difference (but their body will).
Dairy products, of course, are good for your children. But they can be full of fat, so offer your kids low-fat yogurt and low-fat milk. (Kids love to put crunchy granola on top of yogurt, it tastes good and it changes the texture). Switching your kids to low-fat dairy will allow them to get the benefits from dairy while eliminating the bad fats at the same time.
Every parent knows that kids like to snack. Many parents try to completely cut out snacking from their child’s diet. This usually ends with the parents and kids both being frustrated and tired from battle. It’s a more realistic approach to replace unhealthy snacks with healthy ones instead of eliminating snacking altogether.
Chips are a popular snack with children. The next time you go to the grocery store pick up a bag of baked chips instead of the traditional kind. Pretzels and rice cakes are also a great alternative.
Muffins and cookies are another snack that kids love to eat; remember to serve them sparingly. Also, if you make these snacks at home instead of buying them at the store, you can add healthy ingredients like fruit, oats, or nuts. They make a great addition to most baked goods.
Because food is an important part of life it’s essential to establish good eating habits while your kids are young. (If you’re starting late, that’s okay. It’s never too late to change eating habits). Eating is not just that; it’s a way of life. Get into the habit of planning ahead and making healthier choices for your kids; what you teach them now will follow them around for the rest of their lives.