{"id":5693,"date":"2022-08-01T17:26:13","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T17:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/?p=5693"},"modified":"2022-08-08T17:41:17","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T17:41:17","slug":"how-to-teach-kids-about-nutrition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/everything-else\/how-to-teach-kids-about-nutrition\/","title":{"rendered":"How to teach kids about nutrition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharing some ideas on how to set healthy examples for kids, teach them about health, and get them excited about nutrition.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hi friends! How\u2019s the week going? We\u2019re having the dreamiest time in Hawaii; I never want to leave.<\/p>\n

For today\u2019s post, I\u2019m answering a reader\u2019s request about teaching kids about nutrition and setting a healthy example for kids as they grow up. While I\u2019m not an expert in this (please keep in mind that I\u2019m NOT an RD), it\u2019s been important to me to model healthy behaviors our babies can keep for life. In today\u2019s post, I\u2019m sharing some of the things that have worked for us, and as always, I love hearing your input, too!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

How to teach kids about nutrition<\/h2>\n

Show, don\u2019t tell<\/h3>\n

This is my #1 tip and I could probably just end this post here. A lot of the things the kids know about nutrition, they\u2019ve learned from watching us and how we eat, how we plan our meals, and how we shop. I don\u2019t have to really \u201ctell\u201d them anything; kids are little sponges and are always soaking up information from the world around them.<\/p>\n

I love the fact that our kiddos are adventurous eaters who seem to enjoy food as much as we do. They\u2019re not picky and will try anything, and while they each have a giant sweet tooth (I do, too!), they also enjoy lots of fresh produce, protein, healthy fats, and nutrient-dense starches on their plates. One of my biggest goals for nutrition for the girls was to teach them about balance, which they can only learn if I model that myself<\/strong>. I\u2019ll have a giant salad, but I\u2019ll also have a cupcake or ice cream with them, and it\u2019s no big deal. We order Domino\u2019s pizza (they love it) and get donuts weekly. I never want anything to be *weird* or forbidden, and they know that we focus on colorful, fresh foods from the earth + room for the soul-hugging stuff in there, too.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

(Their favorite snack: smoked oysters and skinless\/bonless sardines. They eat them straight-up out of the can.)<\/h5>\n

This can be hard if you\u2019ve grown up with a tricky relationship with food, but remember that kids are always watching. Enjoy treats guilt-free and don\u2019t talk about how food affects your physical appearance. Instead, you can say things like, \u201cI\u2019m going to have so much energy after this salad\u201d or \u201csoup always makes me feel better when I\u2019m under the weather.\u201d Or, you could also say nothing. I find that whatever I\u2019m eating, the girls want to eat, too. I\u2019ll often make my portions larger because I know at least half will be \u201ctasted.”<\/p>\n

Eat the rainbow<\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t think kids *need* to know the vitamin, mineral content, or macro balance of their foods. Instead, they can focus on eating the rainbow. You can ask them, \u201cHey, did you have anything green yet today? Do you want salad, broccoli, or zucchini with dinner?\u201d \u201cHow many colors of the rainbow can we put on our plate for lunch?”<\/p>\n

Having a little garden<\/a> has encouraged them to try new things, too. They love going outside to pick carrots, bell peppers, or salad greens. (We have melons growing right now, too!)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Give them freedom within parameters<\/h3>\n

For this one, if I know they\u2019ve already had more sugar during the day (like a boba tea AND an ice cream at the pool), I\u2019ll give them some more nutrient-dense choices for other meals. \u201cHey, do you want chicken or fish tonight?\u201d \u201cWhat veggies or fruits do you want with your meal?\u201d The girls know that for every meal they\u2019ll get a few constants: a protein, a starch, a healthy fat, and always a fruit or veggie (usually both with lunch and dinner). I hope that by setting up our meals this way, they\u2019ll inherently know how to balance a plate when they get older.<\/p>\n

Let them go shopping with you and choose new produce options<\/h3>\n

This is definitely the most fun one! Whenever we go to the store or put in an online grocery order, I let the girls each pick a new fruit or vegetable<\/a>. They often surprise me with their choices and we\u2019ve been able to discover new things this way. This makes them excited to try these new options, and I find that it also keeps us out of the monotony of having the same fruits and veggies in our rotation. It\u2019s also fun to take them to the farmer\u2019s market and pick out some new finds that feel exciting to them.<\/p>\n

Involve them in the cooking process<\/h3>\n

Kids are ALWAYS more excited to eat when they helped to prepare the meal. For our dinners, I try to find age-appropriate ways to let them help, whether it\u2019s peeling carrots, putting a salad kit together (P can do the whole thing from start to finish), washing and seasoning vegetables, harvesting herbs or greens from the garden, measuring ingredients, or chopping (with supervision the whole time, obvs). Cooking with them usually takes a tiiiiiny bit longer, but it\u2019s totally worth it. I want them to enjoy cooking and it\u2019s another way that we can enjoy time together. If you\u2019re looking for a kid-friendly cookbook, the girls LOVE this one.<\/a> (Liv recently told me it\u2019s \u201ctoo easy\u201d for her, so we\u2019re looking for a new one!)<\/p>\n

So, tell me, friends: what habits are you trying to set up for your kids as they grow? What are some resources that have helped you?<\/p>\n

How do you involve kids in the cooking process?<\/p>\n

xoxo<\/p>\n

Gina<\/p>\n

The post How to teach kids about nutrition<\/a> appeared first on The Fitnessista<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sharing some ideas on how to set healthy examples for kids, teach them about health, and get them excited about nutrition. Hi friends! How\u2019s the week going? We\u2019re having the dreamiest time in Hawaii; I never want to leave. For today\u2019s post, I\u2019m answering a reader\u2019s request about teaching kids about nutrition and setting a\u2026
\nThe post How to teach kids about nutrition appeared first on The Fitnessista.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":""},"categories":[20,1,21,22,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5693"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5693"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5699,"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5693\/revisions\/5699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}