Kids and food: advice for parents
It is important for parents to know how to help their kids eat healthily. Here are a few easy ways:
Parents control the supply lines.
Though kids may keep asking for less nutritious (有营养的) foods, parents should decide which foods are regularly provided in the house. Kids won't go hungry. They'll eat what's available in the fridge at home.
Say goodbye to the “clean-plate club”.
Lots of parents grew up under the clean-plate rule, but that way doesn't help kids listen to their own bodies when they are full. When kids feel full, they're less likely to overeat.
Food preferences are developed early in life, so try to offer different kinds of foods. Likes and dislikes begin forming even when kids are babies. Parents may need to serve a new food on several different occasions for a child to accept it.
Food is not love.
Find better ways to say “I love you”. When foods are used to reward kids and show love, they may start to turn to food when feeling worried or unhappy.
Kids do as you do.
When trying to teach good eating habits, try to set the best example. Choose nutritious foods, eat at the table, and don't forget breakfasts.
A. Start them young. B. Rewrite the kids' menu. C. Be a role model and eat healthily yourself. D. Offer praise and attention instead of food treats. E. Let kids stop eating when they feel they've had enough. F. You decide which foods to buy and when to serve them. G. Let kids choose what to eat and how much of it they want. |
