It’s not always easy to get kids to eat the food they should. Your relationship with food could be great but if your child is picking up unhealthy influences from their peers or television, your efforts will be met with strong resistance.
While the results may not be instant, there is one surefire way to help your kids change the way they eat.
You Must Watch Your Words
Childhood is a very impressionable time. Your words alone have the ability to shape how your child will view the world. No matter what you do, you must be careful when you’re talking about different types of foods. If you get excited and speak highly of foods like chocolate cake, your child is going to immediately have the concept in mind that chocolate cake is the desirable food – and not their vegetables.
Everything is presentation for us as humans, whether adults or children. If you’re going to set up a hierarchy of some foods are bad and some are good, it’s going to make a much bigger impact than the actual taste of foods. Children only react to sweets being better because they have been presented as fun. All their memories around those types of food have been positive ones.
But if you were to do the same with vegetables and make them seem exciting, you would be helping your child see the inherent goodness in all foods.
Don’t Be Afraid To Make Food Fun
Try making a sweet potato puree and putting it into a pastry bag. Let your children make fun designs with the puree, just like they would do if they were frosting a cupcake. Create an environment that celebrates, not dictates, the benefits of healthy food. When you do this, you’re setting a foundation of thought that will remain with your child forever.
Even better, if you get them thinking this way, they can start passing on these attitudes to their peers. Just imagine the effect you’d be having not only on your household but also your entire community.
All it takes is choosing words that create positive situations that your children will remember.