Most children don't come out of the womb loving a variety of foods--especially a variety of healthy foods. With childhood obesity on the rise, now is the time to teach your child to make healthy food choices, even if it means the occasional power struggle. The key to helping your toddler eat healthy foods involves giving her a variety of healthy foods to choose from, then asking her what she likes best. Giving a toddler a choice in her otherwise limited world of choices can go a long way.
Step 1
Take your child grocery shopping with you. Show her some healthy choices and ask her for her opinion: should you choose pears or apples? Whole-wheat crackers or pretzels? If your toddler is asked for her opinion, she will be more likely to try the food later when you are cooking or preparing snacks.
Step 2
Start by incorporating new foods into healthy snacks. Because snacks tend to be in smaller portions, your toddler may be more willing to try these smaller portions. Involve him in the process of making snacks. Slice pears and have your child arrange them in a heart shape or use them as "ears" on a face of cherry tomatoes with a carrot mouth and nose.
Step 3
Start incorporating healthy foods into menus your child already likes. For example, incorporate spaghetti squash into your child's spaghetti or add vegetables to chicken noodle soup. You don't have to be deceptive about adding in these vegetables. That may make your child feel suspicious or deceived when she discovers healthy foods are on the menu.
Step 4
Find a healthy drink (or drinks) your toddler enjoys. From 100-percent fruit juices to low-fat milk to vegetable juice, help your child find a drink he enjoys that is good for him. However, when your child says he is thirsty, offer him water first.
Step 5
Continue to introduce healthy foods into your child's daily diet--even if he didn't like them the first time you introduced them. For example, if you serve lima beans one night, but your child refuses to eat them, don't write them off. Instead, eat them as if they are the best thing you have ever tasted, then serve them again another night the next week. If he still refuses them, try again until your child at least gives them a try.
Tips and Warnings
- Your child's best healthy eating role model is you. Make sure you eat a variety of healthy foods to encourage your child to eat healthy foods.
- Avoid bargaining to get your child to eat healthy foods--for example, don't offer him a dessert in return for eating a serving of beans. This may only increase your child's desire for desserts and increase her bargaining power for future food servings.
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