Tag: children

Be a Healthy Role Model for Children

10 tips for setting good examples

You are the most important influence on your child. You can do many things to help your children develop healthy eating habits for life. Offering a variety of foods helps children get the nutrients they need from every food group. They will also be more likely to try new foods and to like more foods. When children develop a taste for many types of foods, it’s easier to plan family meals. Cook together, eat together, talk together, and make mealtime a family time!

1. Show by example
Eat vegetables, fruits, and whole grains with meals or as snacks. Let your child see that you like to munch on raw vegetables.

2. Go food shopping together
Grocery shopping can teach your child about food and nutrition. Discuss where vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, and protein foods come from. Let your children make healthy choices.

3. Get creative in the kitchen
Cut food into fun and easy shapes with cookie cutters. Name a food your child helps make. Serve “Janie’s Salad” or “Jackie’s Sweet Potatoes” for dinner. Encourage your child to invent new snacks. Make your own trail mixes from dry whole-grain, low-sugar cereal and dried fruit.

4. Offer the same foods for everyone
Stop being a “short-order cook” by making different dishes to please children. It’s easier to plan family meals when everyone eats the same foods.

5. Reward with attention, not food
Show your love with hugs and kisses. Comfort with hugs and talks. Choose not to offer sweets as rewards. It lets your child think sweets or dessert foods are better than other foods. When meals are not eaten, kids do not need “extras” — such as candy or cookies — as replacement foods.

6. Focus on each other at the table
Talk about fun and happy things at mealtime. Turn off the television. Take phone calls later. Try to make eating meals a stress-free time.

7. Listen to your child
If your child says he or she is hungry, offer a small, healthy snack — even if it is not a scheduled time to eat. Offer choices. Ask “Which would you like for dinner: broccoli or cauliflower?” instead of “Do you want broccoli for dinner?”

8. Limit screen time
Allow no more than 2 hours a day of screen time like TV and computer games. Get up and move during commercials to get some physical activity.

9. Encourage physical activity
Make physical activity fun for the whole family. Involve your children in the planning. Walk, run, and play with your child — instead of sitting on the sidelines. Set an example by being physically active and using safety gear, like bike helmets.

10. Be a good food role model
Try new foods yourself. Describe its taste, texture, and smell. Offer one new food at a time. Serve something your child likes along with the new food. Offer new foods at the beginning of a meal, when your child is very hungry. Avoid lecturing or forcing your child to eat.

Categories: Healthy Lifestyle

Tags: children, eating habits, Family, family meals, fussy eating, healthy eating

Healthy lunchbox alternatives

By Dr. Antonella Grima

Are you looking for a healthy alternative to the classic ham sanwich? Try making a wholegrain salmon or chicken sandwich (you can save some from what you cook for dinner) with light mayo or greek yogurt. Add some cheese strips, rice crackers and a fruit, such as an apple for a tasty treat.

Categories: Recipes & Tips

Tags: chicken, children, Fruit, lunch, lunchbox, salmon, wholegrain

School Lunchbox Idea

By Dr. Antonella Grima

Another lunchbox idea for a 3-4 year old: Wholemeal bread with Emmental cheese and just a scrape of butter, some rice crackers, a few dried apricots and a banana. A bottle of water completes this tasty school lunch

Categories: Recipes & Tips

Tags: children, Fruit, lunch, lunchbox, preschool, Wholemeal

Q&A: Healthy Lunchboxes for Children

Dr. Antonella Grima interviewed by Daniela Allen for A&H magazine

What should we include and what should we avoid giving children in their lunch boxes?
When preparing school lunches, one should try and include as many fresh ingredients as possible and keep away from pre-packed or ready-made lunches and snacks as these tend to have a higher salt, fat and sugar content. Reducing the salt content of lunches is also beneficial and one may look for low salt bread, spreads, ham or cheese.
Make sure to include plenty of water to cover your child’s fluid requirements, especially on active or sports days. Needless to say, sweets and junk food should be kept away from the lunch box, especially since most schools have strict policies regarding these foods.

How should we cope with fussy eaters and should we worry if they don’t eat everything?
Try and involve your children in the preparation of their lunches and include food choices that you know they like. Do not be afraid to experiment with ways of preparing and presenting the lunch. This may be by adding new ingredients, such as herbs, to enhance flavour, or by including new food, such as, pasta or rice instead of the classic sandwich. It is more likely that a lunch is eaten if it looks and smells appealing.
Unless your child’s doctor is concerned about his or her growth, do not feel stressed if your child returns home with most of the lunch. Children tend to auto-regulate much better than us adults, and eat more on days or at times when they really need it and less when they perceive less hunger.

Any practical tips to ensure healthy and nutritious lunches?
It would be a good idea to use compartmentalised lunch boxes and use the different sections to include a variety of food groups, such as bread or pasta, vegetables and fruit, a protein source, like beans or chicken strips, and dairy, such as a soft cheese, rather than offering only the carbohydrate-rich options, like for example sandwiches.
By offering a variety of food choices on different days of the week, you introduce an element of surprise and make lunchtime less boring. In addition, you would be making sure that your child is receiving a healthy variety of nutrients.

Categories: Healthy Lifestyle

Tags: children, fussy, lunch, lunchbox, Lunches, picky