5 ways to make your child confident of what he eats

Just like all of us developed our eating habits in our childhood through the guidance of our parents, our kids are also what we train them to be. A child’s mind is like a sponge, it absorbs whatever you feed into it. The child is confident seeing you as his/her role model in each aspect of life. Hence, they tend to follow your footsteps and imitate your eating habits. It is necessary to ensure that you show them an example with your food habits. This includes no skipping breakfast while rushing off to work, eating more veggies, having a light dinner, etc.

Portion control is one major aspect that should be promoted in your kid’s eating habits from a very young age. Teaching them to avoid sugary drinks, saying no to package and junk foods, how to shop for healthy food products with FSSAI registration, etc. will help in the development of good healthy eating habits. Cooking can be a fun activity that each of your family members could be involved in so that they know the benefits of cooking food at home than preferring fast food delivery in their adult life.

Make your child confident of his eating habits

Some of the tips that could help in developing better eating habits in kids are given below:-

Make healthy food available at home

It is better not to impose a sudden change in food habits at home. Make sure that a wide variety of healthy food is made available at your home so that your kids automatically snack on healthy options. Try to consider your family’s tastes so that you can plan and make switches accordingly. Keep away soda items, sugary drinks, chips, etc., from your homes.

Practice your kids the art of mindful eating 

Teach your kids how to be aware of the things you eat. Make them eat slowly by chewing their food properly from a very young age. This will help them recognize if they are full and whether hunger is satiated or not. Tell them to drink a glass of water and wait for 10 minutes before feeling hungry for a second helping.

The family that have meals together stays together!

Not only does having meals together as a family strengthens the bonds but it will also be a fundamental food habit that will be practised by your kids for a long time. Make mealtimes peaceful and as interactive as possible. It shouldn’t be an unpleasant affair that makes your kids want to leave the table as soon as they can.

Make shopping for food educative

Include your kids in the discussions on meal plans and while food budgeting as well. Take them for buying groceries and other items from your supermarket. This will teach them about planning meals beforehand, how to include nutrition-rich food in their rich, about managing their food expenses better, etc. Make sure to teach them how to identify and buy food products that have a FSSAI food license. Certification ensures the safety of food items and to prefer healthy options over unhealthy ones.

Give your child healthy food options

It is better to plan your child’s and families snacking options beforehand. Prefer nuts and vegetables over chips, junk items, etc. But ensure that they do not indulge in continuous snacking between meals that will lead to weight gain. Also, include a cookie or two at times as completely restricting your kids from their favourite snacks can lead to a craving for the same. Limiting such snacks, deserts or their favourite food to weekends can also help.

Water is important to hydrate your kids and keep them healthy. Keep filled water bottles in their rooms and make a rule of having these empty by the end of the day. Keep away TV, mobile phones or any kind of distractions away while having meals as kids tend to not pay attention to what they eat while using social media or watching TV. 

Healthy eating is a successful habit

Some parents reward their kids with their favourite sweets or snacks when they achieve something or punish them with no dinner when they do something wrong. This will create a wrong notion inside their heads about food. It will make them think of sweets and as such to be better than other healthy nutritious fruits and vegetables. Also putting them to hunger punishments will make them eat more food out of fear during other mealtimes.

Healthy eating is one successful habit that can be inbuilt in your kids from your homes. Make sure you set yourselves examples to ensure they follow healthy eating habits throughout their lives!