Healthy Habits

Teaching your child healthy eating habits can have a massive impact on their health in later years. We take a look at a few healthy eating habits that we all could benefit from. Eat more veggies and beans We know we all need to eat more vegetables and beans, but it can be difficult to increase our intake, particularly when there are picky eaters involved. Jamie Oliver has talked about this idea, at the beginning of every evening meal, pop some chopped vegetables on the table and you could also add some tasty bean dips, then if your children are really hungry, they are more likely to have a try.

This is a great habit to get into both for children and adults, and a nice little appetiser before each meal which doesn’t take too long to prepare.

Swap white for brown When it comes to bread, rice and pasta consider switching from white to brown. White flour and rice have had many of the nutritional benefits removed from them as part of the process to make them white.

Switching to brown bread, rice and pasta will increase your meals nutritional content and although initially your children may not approve, they will soon learn to love it. Save sweets and soft drinks for a special occasion Kids love sugar, but we all know sugar is really bad for us.

Eating sweets, treats and drinking sugary drinks is not only bad for our teeth but our health too and can develop into a bad habit.

Try limiting the amount of sugar your children have and make it more for special occasions, like sweets for a family film night once a week or after school on a Friday.

It is also recommended by dentists that you eat sweets and other sugary treats at mealtimes as you have more saliva which can help wash away the acid, whereas bedtime is the worst time to eat or drink anything sugary as your teeth have less time to recover. Lead by example Children learn so much from those around them, so set a good example and show them what a good diet looks like by filling your plates up with plenty of vegetables and wholegrains and leave any chocolate eating for when the kids are at school! Cook together One of the best ways to teach your child to have good eating habits is to cook together. If you’re not a great cook, then why not learn some new recipes together.

If you are a whiz around the kitchen, then show your child how it's done. They will love spending this time with you and will enjoy learning some family recipes they could cook with their children in years to come.

Source: NHS

Teaching your child healthy eating habits can have a massive impact on their health in later years.