Medusa

How to Help your Child to Eat a Healthy Diet

Making lunches fun will encourage children to try unfamiliar foods!

<p>Including a good mixture of all appropriate foods in your child&&num;8217&semi;s diet is a must&&num;8230&semi;but many parents struggle when it comes to the items which children don&&num;8217&semi;t take to so easily&&num;8230&semi;yes&comma; I&&num;8217&semi;m talking vegetables&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1879" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1879" style&equals;"width&colon; 400px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignleft"><img class&equals;" wp-image-1879 " src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;medusamagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2013&sol;05&sol;5509912776&lowbar;18b15bd61a&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Making lunches fun will encourage children to try unfamiliar foods&excl;" width&equals;"400" height&equals;"319" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1879" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Making lunches fun will encourage children to try unfamiliar foods&excl;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Many younger children struggle when it comes to eating their greens and this is partly to do with the strong flavours of some vegetables&period; Many children do not mature in terms of their taste buds until they are over ten years old and rebel when asked to eat their broccoli&comma; beans or peas&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The good news is that vegetables and salads can be disguised within other foods and also made to appear more fun&&num;8230&semi;and so more appealing to children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Some tips to &&num;8220&semi;hide&&num;8221&semi; vegetables in favourite food are as follows&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you know that your child enjoys hot dogs&comma; as many children do&comma; then add a little shredded raw carrot into the tomato sauce before you serve it&period; Finely grated raw carrots will be almost undetectable when the child is already munching the bread and the sausage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Pop a few green beans into a burger and bun&comma; cut them finely and slip them beneath the burger&period; They do not have a strong flavour and if your child likes onions with their burger&comma; a few green beans should go unnoticed&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Many children enjoy chicken soup and this is a great opportunity to blend together a nice selection of greens and add them to the soup&period; They won&&num;8217&semi;t be noticeable at all and will in fact add to the flavour&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Finely chopped broccoli will &&num;8220&semi;disappear&&num;8221&semi; on a pizza which is already loaded with your child&&num;8217&semi;s favourite treats such as ham and pineapple&period; Other good vegetables to secrete in pizza toppings include carrots and cabbage&semi; the trick is to chop them finely or grate them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1880" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1880" style&equals;"width&colon; 400px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignright"><img class&equals;" wp-image-1880 " src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;medusamagazine&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2013&sol;05&sol;4710254159&lowbar;85e62fddd5&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Children enjoy eating outdoors&comma; encourage picnics and packed lunches when you are out and about&period;" width&equals;"400" height&equals;"266" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1880" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Children enjoy eating outdoors&comma; encourage picnics and packed lunches when you are out and about&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Let your child assist you in the kitchen&comma; this is a good way to demystify food and even small toddlers can help by popping  things into bowls or by setting out cutlery&period;  Helping children to learn where vegetables come from is a good way of encouraging them to enjoy eating them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Show children vegetables which are growing in the garden&semi; if you do not have space to grow vegetables there are some things such as tomatoes&comma; cress and lettuce which will grow happily in containers&&num;8230&semi;you can create a salad bar right on your own windowsill&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A child who has had a hand in the growth of their meal will be far more inclined to give it a try&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Arrange your child&&num;8217&semi;s food in fun ways on their plate&semi; create faces&comma; animals and vehicles from the salad or vegetables which they are being served&period; Packed lunches can also be made more fun by serving them in individual pots&comma; adding stickers to fruit or even drawing faces on them&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Your child&&num;8217&semi;s relationship with food is dependent on your attitude&semi; don&&num;8217&semi;t be anxious about your child&&num;8217&semi;s diet unless there are health issues&period; Let them discover and enjoy food at their own pace and they will develop a healthy eating habit which should last them a lifetime&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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