Kids have their own unique food personalities. Some kids are natural healthy eaters, while some will only eat a few specific foods. If your child has an aversion to healthy foods, there are steps you can take to help make sure he gets a well-balanced diet. Making meals fun, offering a wide variety of foods and celebrating good food choices can get your kids on the right path toward life-long healthy food choices.
Step 1
Start early. A child's taste don't change much from age 2 to age 8. Establishing healthy food habits as a toddler will make it easier to get your kids to eat the recommended five servings of fruit and vegetables per day.
Step 2
Offer foods multiple times, but don't police. The more foods you expose your children to, the more likely they are to eat a wide variety of healthy foods. It may take you several tries over a long period of time before your kids will try a certain fruit or vegetable, but your persistence will pay off for at least some foods.
Step 3
Don't force it. Creating rules about eating healthy foods and forcing kids to eat foods they don't want to makes these foods seem like punishment and can cause kids to associate them with bad feelings. Give lots of praise when kids make good food choices.
Step 4
Make foods fun and come up with healthy snacks that kids want to eat. Cover celery sticks or apple slices in peanut butter and let the kids use nuts or raisins to make faces or designs on their snacks. Make a fun activity out of working together in the kitchen to make individual fruit salad bowls. Let the kids choose what fruits they want to add to their own bowls. Make a game out of eating dinner vegetables by awarding special points for each bite that kids can use to earn prizes.
Step 5
Hide vegetables in foods. While this doesn't teach kids to learn to appreciate healthy foods and develop healthy eating skills, it can supplement their diets. This works especially well for picky eaters. Steam cauliflower, puree it in the blender and add it to macaroni and cheese. Add applesauce or fruits to muffins and cakes. Cook down onions, carrots, peppers and extra tomatoes and pure it into spaghetti sauce. Buy 100 percent fruit juices instead of sugary drink mixes.
Step 6
Talk frankly to your kids about healthy foods and healthy eating. Give your kids the benefit of the doubt that they'll understand what's important to be healthy and to grow up big and strong. Kids may choose to eat healthy foods on their own because they understand the result is a more healthy body.
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