Convincing each of your family members to eat healthy foods can be challenging. It is important to ensure that your family consumes plenty of nutritious foods because they contribute to good health, supply energy and help prevent illness. If your loved ones have not been eating as healthfully as they should be, you can try a few tricks and techniques to encourage them to add more nutritious foods to their diet and yours. KidsHealth recommends involving the whole family in the changes for the best chance of success.
Step 1
Have a contest. Write the name of each family member on individual pieces of paper. Challenge each person to see how many healthy foods they can eat each day. For each serving, place a sticker on the corresponding person's chart. See who can get the most stickers in one day or one week. Reward the winner by allowing him to choose a healthy new food or recipe to try.
Step 2
Cook meals together. KidsHealth reports that including children in the food-preparation process can teach them about healthy eating choices. Read through some cookbooks as a family and decide on one or two new recipes to try. Shop for the ingredients together and give everyone a job. Chances are that everyone will be willing to try the nutritious meal because they took an active part in preparing it. Eating together also allows you to model healthy eating habits.
Step 3
Keep nutritious foods visible. If your family members can see chopped carrots and celery or sliced strawberries and melon, they are more likely to select them as a snack or side dish. Allow each person to choose one or two types of produce. Cut them up ahead of time so that even if you are rushed, you can still include them in meals or as snacks. Keep low-fat string cheese in the refrigerator, a variety of nuts in the pantry and high-fiber, low-sugar cereals in the cabinet as other ways to keep nutritious foods more visible.
Step 4
Limit sugary and fatty foods. Healthy Children website recommends restricting your intake of sugary beverages, such as soda, but you should also limit other junk food, such as candy, cookies and potato chips. Keep these foods out of the house, and you will consume far less of them. Reserve them for special occasions, such as dining out or birthday celebrations.
Tips and Warnings
- The library and Internet have a wealth of nutritious recipes you can try. Introduce an exercise program to complement your healthy eating to improve the health of your family even more.
- If any of your family members are overweight, make an appointment with the family doctor to get additional help improving your diet and making healthy changes.
Things You'll Need
- Paper
- Stickers
- Cookbooks
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