You realize that nutrition for kids is important, but youre not sure how to teach your child to make better food choices. Now what? Here are a few suggestions to help educate your child about nutrition and how it relates to their overall health: Learn more about nutrition yourself. You cant teach what you dont know yourself. Find a quality resource from a qualified and experienced professional that can show you in easy-to-understand language how to use nutrition and fitness to help your family live happier and healthier. ==>Start with a preferred foods list. Write down a list of all of the foods that your child likes. Then take that list and divide it into foods that are better for them, and foods that are not so good. Post the list on the refrigerator as a reminder to you and your child to choose more of the foods that are better, and less of the foods that are not as healthy. ==>Talk about the consequences of poor nutrition in age-appropriate terms. Explain the benefits in terms that they can relate to and understand. You can tell kids that obesity will lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer, but that probably wont mean much to them today. Tell them that they can feel better about themselves, climb stairs without getting out of breath, and play longer, harder, and better. ==>Start to read labels together. They dont have to understand all of the information on a label, but getting them in the habit of looking at every label they see, and simply comparing calories will help get them thinking about nutrition. |
