10 Ways to Help Kids Eat More Fruits & Veggies
1. Keep a bowl of fresh fruits on the counter. Refrigerate cut up fruits and vegetables in small bags for easy snacks on the run.
2. Serve fruits and vegetables at every meal. Add grated or cut vegetables into entrees, side dishes, and soups. Top off cereal with fruits or add frozen fruits to smoothies.
3. Set a good example. Snack on fruit and order low-sodium, low-fat salads, soups, or vegetable sides when at restaurants.
4. Pack the refrigerator, freezer and cupboard with pre-cut, frozen and canned vegetables so that it is easier for you to prepare meals and snacks that include vegetables.
5. Challenge family members to reach their daily fruits and vegetables goal. Reward the winner with a prize of his or her choice.
6. Ask that fruits and vegetables be offered at school functions, after school programs, and in vending machines.
7. Let children choose which fruits and vegetables be serve and how to incorporate them into their favorite meals.
8. Make fruits and vegetables fun. Try dressing up sandwiches with faces and smiles made from fruits and vegetables.
9. Keep trying. For some foods, it may take multiple times before a child acquires a taste for it.
10. Encourage friends or relatives to offer vegetables and fruits to your children.
As a parent, you know you're supposed to present kids with an array of healthy foods. Going to the grocery store is an important step in this process. What you put in your cart week after week can affect your child's health and attitude toward nutritious food. Is that cart full of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy items? Or is it overloaded with drinks and snacks that don't offer much nutritional punch? If you'd like to upgrade your family's diet, start by upgrading what you're buying.
Make a List
A list can keep you on track- especially if you base it on a meal plan for the week. Focus your week's menus on wholesome, nutritious ingredients such as fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, lean meats and poultry, fresh fish, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. The American Heart Association and The American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that families with children shop with these guidelines in mind:
* Eat vegetables and fruits everyday. Goal is 5 servings a day.
* Limit juice intake. Offer only 100% fruit juice.
* Use vegetable oils, especially ones high in monounsaturated fat such as olive and canola.
* Eat whole-grain rather than refined-grain breads, cereals, pasta, and rice products.
* Reduce the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages and foods in your family's diet.
* Use nonfat or low-fat milk and dairy products daily.You can also choose enriched soy milk or nut milk.
* Eat more fish, especially oily fish (salmon) that is broiled or baked
* Reduce your salt intake.
The best way for you to encourage healthy eating is to eat well yourself. Kids will follow the lead of the adults they see everyday. By eating fruits and vegetables and not overindulging in the less nutritious stuff, you'll be sending the right message!
Healthy After-School Snacks
by the CA State PTA Health Commission
Snack Kabobs: Cut raw vegetables or fruit into chunks. Skewer them onto thin pretzel sticks.
Veggies with Dip: Cut celery, zucchini, cucumbers or carrots into sticks or coin shapes. Then dip them into prepared salsa or lowfat dip.
Banana Pops: Peel a banana. Dip it into yogurt, then roll it in crushed breakfast cereal, and freeze.
Fruit Shake-Ups: Put 1/2 cup lowfat fruit yogurt and 1/2 cup cold fruit juice in a not-breakable, covered container. Make sure the lid is tight. Then shake it up and pout into a cup.
Pudding Shakes: Use the same technique for making fruit shake-ups, but instead mix 1/2 cup cold milk with 3 tablespoons of instant pudding.
Sandwich Cut-Outs: Using cookie cutters with fun shapes, like stars, hearts, dinosaurs, and teddy bears, cut slices of cheese, meat, and whole-grain bread. Then put them together to make fun sandwiches. Eat the edges too!
Peanut Butter Balls: Mix peanut butter and bran or corn flakes in a bowl. Shape them into balls with clean hands. Then roll them in crushed graham crackers.
Ice Cream-Wiches: Put a small scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt between two oatmeal cookies or frozen waffles. Make a batch of these sandwiches ahead of time and freeze them.
Ants on a Log: Fill celery with peanut butter or cream cheese. Arrange raisins along the top.
PBJ Crackers: Spread peanut butter and any flavor or jelly on reduced-salt crackers.
Fruit Juice Popsicles: Pour any kind of fruit juice into popsicle molds or ice-cube trays. Place toothpicks for handles and freeze.
Five Nutrients your Child May be Missing 2) Fiber: An Essential Nutrient for Satiety
Offer your children low-fat or flavored milks instead of other beverages that offer little or no calcium. Eight ounces of milk; 8 ounces of yogurt; and 1.5 ounces of hard cheese, such as cheddar, contains the same amount of calcium…."8 ounces of milk equals to 300 milligrams of calcium"
This nutrient is necessary for curbing constipation and it helps kids feel fuller. Fiber helps head off Type 2 Diabetes and High Blood Cholesterol. Diets rich in fiber-filled foods may reduce the risk of heart disease later in life. Boost your family’s fiber intake by serving a fruit or vegetable (or both) with meals and snacks. Opt for whole-grain breads and cereals, pasta, and legumes.
3) Magnesium: An Essential Nutrient For Growth
This nutrient is involved in about 300 bodily functions responsible for keeping your child growing. This amazing mineral helps maintain normal muscle, nerve, and heart functions; contributes to a robust immune system; fosters energy production; and bolsters bone health. Offer your kids dark green leafy vegetable; a variety of nuts and seeds; whole grains; and legumes.
4) Vitamin E: An Essential Nutrient Superhero
As a powerful antioxidant nutrient, Vitamin E battles free radicals and is vital for a strong immune system. It’s found in abundance in vegetable oils, almonds, dark green leafy vegetables "spinach", nut butters, sunflower seeds, and fortified cereals.
5) Potassium: A Heart-Helping Essential Nutrient
This nutrient insures normal heart and muscle function; maintains fluid balance; and promotes strong bones. A potassium rich diet helps adults head off high blood pressure in adults. Getting children in the habit of including high-potassium foods may help them later in life. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are the richest in potassium. Dairy foods and fresh (cooked) meats and seafood are also good potassium choices. Remember, the more processed the food, the less potassium it provides, and the more sodium in a food, the lower the potassium.