Developing healthy habits in kids

The pizza, burgers, hot chips are so yummy and difficult to resist for kids. But this yummy taste is certainly turning out to be a big trouble for the present generation. As the kids are moving away from fresh natural food and growing closer to fast food. The percentage of obese kids is rising in all the countries. As an aware parent it becomes our duty to understand the cause of the child’s growing fondness towards unhealthy food.

The taste is one big factor that pushes the kids towards fast food but other than that there are some external triggers that we must identify. The external triggers are the factors that are present outside the child’s body and pushes the child towards unhealthy food. The external factors could be:

1.       Presence of unhealthy food at home: If the eating table has unhealthy food options visible, the child will certainly choose the same. But if we stop bringing such unhealthy options at home the child will have to look for something healthy that is available.

Just think!

How often do we eat ice-cream in winters?

 How often do we buy ice-cream in winters?

What is our response when the child asks for ice-cream in winters?

Does the child ask for ice-cream in winters?

 If we just ponder about these questions we have the answer to all that’s going in our mind. When we don’t buy ice-creams in winters and kids don’t ask for it in winters, this is the solution to all. They know that we don’t have ice-cream at home so no point looking for it in the freezer. Similarly if we stop buying unhealthy food they will not look for it at home.

2.       Giving unhealthy food as a reward for any task that the child completes should be another big NO.  Developing healthy eating habits is totally in the hands of parents. If we reward a child with something that is harm to their body then it is not a reward rather it is a curse to kids. The reward should be something that develops them physically and motivates. Never reward a child to ease yourself. If a child doesn’t listen to you and giving away an unhealthy reward to get the things done is the most despoiled thing. Try to convert the reward into something that develops good habit in a child.

3.       Increasing gadget time with extra munching. Eating while sitting in front of the TV or any gadget is also a big trigger. The kids tend to eat or munch more without realising the hunger demand of their tummy. The extra chips, biscuits or cookies munched at this time just adds on to the unhealthy food intake for kids.

What can we do as parents?

Parents need to be the role model for the kids to develop healthy eating habit in kids.

1.       Involve your kids in menu planning and grocery shopping. The kids should be made an important part of food planning at home. Encourage them to read the labels of food items that they pick. Talk to kids at home about the healthy food and how to choose the same at a grocery store.

2.       Read Labels: Try to choose the food by looking at label. The rule says:

(a)    Look for fat content per 100 g serve. It should be less than 5 g.

(b)   Look for sugar content per 100 g serve. It should be less than 5 g.

Involve the kids in picking up healthy food by looking at the labels. They will themselves keep back the unhealthy food because you have given them responsibility for the health of the family.

3.       Increase the water intake of the whole family. When each adult in the family keeps a record of water intake for the whole day the kids will follow the footsteps of adults. Make the chart visible so that it becomes a family activity. Try to consume minimum 6 cups of water in a day.

4.       Breakfast time: “Say good morning to the day with breakfast”. Use positive quotes to encourage breakfast eating habit in kids. Breakfast is an essential part of the meal and must not be missed.

5.       Increase physical activity time: If the children are lethargic in going out and playing, then the family play time should be encouraged. The kids will be more excited when the whole family plays together and works towards fitness.

6.       Visible fruits: The fruits and healthy food items should be visible to kids. Whenever they feel hungry they will themselves pick it up to eat.

As a parent it’s our duty to give our child healthy food and opportunities to eat it. The way we wish to give everything best possible in the world to our child, the same should be the treatment for healthy food. As an old saying goes “Health is wealth.” Happy healthy parents make happy healthy children.