Getting Kids Excited About Eating Healthy Foods is a Piece of Cake

By Janis Brett Elspas, Guest Columnist
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If you’re a mom, dad, or caregiver of a kid from toddler through high school, you know what a challenge it can be getting your youngster to eat healthy. No doubt, you also are well aware of the lure of junk food for today’s youth. You might even have a child with food allergies and have had to rise to even greater nutritional challenges.

"Try to always have ready-to-eat fresh food on hand that looks and tastes good"

But eating well doesn’t have to be a struggle. In fact, chances are you’ll be surprised at the reactions you get from your child if you just put some thought and effort into presenting a choice of healthy options to him/her. Nutritionists generally agree that the body – especially a younger one with growth spurts – has a natural inclination to seek food with the nutrients necessary to function properly.

For example, if a child comes home from school ravenous and you put both a bowl of potato chips and a slice of steaming cheese pizza in front of him, guess which one most kids will reach for first? That’s right – the pizza — because the eyes, nose and mind, along with the base feeling of hunger, are subconsciously directing the kid to choose the food that has more nutritional value. The potato chips become much less appealing when side by side with a food that will ultimately leave the child with a greater sense of satisfaction, both physically and mentally.

But, what if you present your child with a bowl of chips and a plate of hot broccoli – a vegetable this particular kid despises? This time the unhealthier choice prevails simply because the healthy option wasn’t appealing enough.

While it’s true that the chips, broccoli, and pizza triangle scenario may seem extreme, it does illustrate a very good point. When given two options, the child has a higher chance of going for the food that’s better for his body than the one with empty calories as long as it looks appetizing to him.

Good nutrition isn’t about forbidding all the so-called junk food because in small quantities it won’t make a kid unhealthy. It’s really about you, the parent, doing your part to make sure there are enough desirable healthy options that your child can choose from.

A few easy lessons on nutrition

• Don’t eliminate junk food altogether, just limit it. I’m a believer in allowing snack foods kids enjoy in moderate quantities because I think it may actually stave off the tendency toward a diet made up almost exclusively of food that is bad for you.

• Try to always have ready-to-eat fresh food on hand that looks and tastes good — like watermelon, ripe berries, or colorful crispy vegetables with ranch dressing — for between meal snacking.

• Lastly, if your child suffers from food allergies, look for appetizing alternatives. Rather than a feeling of missing out, show them that a substitution is often even better than the original.

It’s really that simple, to do rather than lecture about nutrition. Present your family with the right options and healthy eating will be a piece of cake.