To do dietary rehabilitation with children, you must first change the habits of parents, especially through simple actions, such as not buying home treats and always having salad on the table for lunch and dinner.
Children tend to mimic their parents’ attitudes, so it is necessary to unite the whole family to change eating habits, which can be achieved through the following steps:
- The first step for children to eat well is to have good food in the fridge.
- Pantry and closets.
- So they can always choose between good options.
- And even if they want to eat junk food like stuffed cookies and sodas.
- They won’t have it at home.
During the child’s anger crisis, parents should open the closets to show that they don’t have the food the little ones want and to show other snack options available.
Inserting healthy foods into meals, even if children don’t want to eat them, it’s important that they learn about new foods and be curious about them.
Parents can always offer salads and minced fruit, as well as nuts and natural yogurt with honey in snacks, for example.
To encourage children to try new flavors, a good strategy is to eat healthy foods in front of the little ones, so they can see how delicious and healthy they are.
Children often don’t eat different fruits, vegetables, and preparations because their own parents don’t have this habit, so it’s necessary to change and show them that change is good.
Allowing children to help prepare food is also a great way to encourage them to learn more about food and understand how food has been prepared in a delicious and loving way.
Sometimes, when they see the dish ready, the children simply reject the preparation because they find it strange and do not understand how it was made, so when they participate in the process of preparation and cooking, they can begin to experiment with new flavors and get excited. when everything is ready on the table.
It is important to avoid distractions such as television, tablet or mobile phone during meals, a rule that applies to both children and parents.
Despite the usual mess, food should be a time of attention for children, during which they receive compliments and advice in a pleasant way, making food always a special moment.
Patience is always necessary during children’s education, as is nutritional education. Children won’t give in easily to new foods, and it takes time and patience to convince them to try new flavors.
And the work doesn’t stop at the first attempt: in general, you have to try the same food several times until the palate gets used to it and you start to like the new taste.
Trying and learning new recipes is important to innovate and flavor healthy foods, which are often considered bland and tasteless.
Learning to use natural spices and fresh foods brings more health and fun to the family during meals. See other tips for your child to eat fruits and vegetables.