Developing good feeding habits in babies is crucial for their health and development. We have tips on how to cultivate good feeding habits in your baby.
Parents can nurture lifelong feeding habits by providing healthy options at home.
Good feeding habits formed during childhood lead to a healthy life. Children need different food servings depending on age, gender, and activity levels. We are often advised to have good food, but having good food is not enough. It is also important to have good feeding habits. A combination of good food and good feeding habits makes us healthy and fit.
Below are 10 ways to cultivate good feeding habits:
Having regular family meals
Children who regularly eat with their families tend to have healthy feeding habits. Family meals mostly consist of food groups. Sharing meals with other family members helps children obtain a diverse range of nutrients. This is one simple way for parents to help prevent common nutrient deficiencies.
Eating together helps children eat appropriate portion sizes. It also helps parents recognize early signs of eating disorders such as binge eating. Children adopt healthy eating habits by trying new foods and imitating their parents. They also feel a sense of security and togetherness when they have regular family meals.
Involve your children in purchasing food ingredients, coming up with recipes, and cooking
This increases the willingness to try new foods and reduces neophobia. Neophobia is characterized by avoidance or reluctance to eat new foods.
Children feel more included during meal time when they are part of meal preparation. Prioritizing cooking healthy meals together, over the convenience of processed foods is a better way to help your children adopt a culture of good eating habits.
Involving your children in food preparation and cooking helps to build a positive association with food. For example, for hesitant eaters, you can help them explore foods using other senses besides taste. Cooking together helps build and strengthen a family’s commitment to healthy eating habits and lifestyle.
Be a role model
Children follow what they see people around them doing. Therefore, parents and caregivers can significantly influence children’s eating habits. Eating healthy foods will send the right message to your children.
Talk positively about the foods you like and enjoy. Commenting about the food you like can help children try it too. Avoid making negative comments about the food. Such comments can make children less likely to try them. The best way to help your children eat healthy food is by eating healthy food in front of them.
Stock your home with healthy foods
A healthy diet protects your children against malnutrition and other diet-related diseases. Make it easy for your children to choose healthy snacks. Keep healthy choices accessible and ready to eat. Alternatives for healthy snacking include yogurt, fruit and vegetable salads, and whole-grain bread.
Limit on low nutrient snacks and sugary drinks. Serve water and fresh fruit juice instead of soda and fruit-flavored drinks. Fast foods and low-nutrient snacks can be eaten once in a while. Limit fat intake. Opt for alternative cooking methods like grilling, boiling, and steaming rather than consistently frying food. Use good sources of proteins such as plant-based proteins, fish, nuts, and lean meat.
Educate your children on the benefits of healthy diets
Children need a balanced and proper diet to grow healthy and strong. Early learning about nutrition sets a basis for future feeding habits that can apply as they grow up. It is crucial to teach children about nutrition from a young age.
Learning, especially for younger children, should be interesting and fun for them so that they can understand. For example, you can play games or create songs that praise healthy foods. Teach them how unhealthy feeding negatively affects their health and body. For example, too much sugary food is not good for your teeth, it causes tooth cavities and decay.
Serve a variety of food in each meal
Variety means foods that differ in aspects such as flavor, texture, smell, and appearance. Serving a variety of the major food groups provides children with different key nutrients required to promote health and reduce the risk of diseases.
Serve different types of food and incorporate different flavors and textures. Children require different textures according to their ages. Serving variety helps fussy children to choose what they like. If your child doesn’t eat part of a meal, do not offer an extra serving of other food. Choosing variety makes meals interesting, and reduces boredom during mealtime.
Have a regular feeding time
Offering meals and snacks at regular times encourages better appetite at mealtime. A schedule helps balance the diet provides energy to play and keeps your child in a good mood. Regular meals and snacks can be part of healthy feeding habits. Healthy snacks in between meals prevent excessive hunger which otherwise leads to overeating during meals.
Always remind your child to stop eating when full. Do not force them to finish all the food on their plate. They can eat the leftovers later when they are hungry. Also, serve small amounts at snack time to prevent undereating during meals.
Serve your child the right portion of food. You can offer an extra serving if they are not satisfied. Avoid giving alternatives if your child doesn’t eat a meal. Instead, encourage them to eat but also do not force them.
Remove distractions during feeding time
Turning off the television and putting iPads and smartphones out of reach will help children concentrate on eating. Offer toys related to feeding, such as spoons, bowls, and cups. Keep the feeding time short and interesting. To make feeding time even more interesting, make food and cut fruits into different shapes of animals or toys.
Instead of putting their favorite cartoon, talk to them about how sweet the food is. Music provides a calm environment but it should not be too distracting. Play the child’s favorite music before a meal to help change focus from playing/watching to eating. Whenever you can, include the child’s favorite food and invite their friends over to share a meal.
Use of incentives
Children are sensitive when making food decisions. Giving small rewards such as toys can improve their eating habits. Although this may provide a short-term intervention, it may also provide a long-lasting change.
Providing rewards can increase the frequency with which a certain type of food is consumed. For example, give a new toy when your child eats vegetables in all meals for a week. This will encourage them to eat adequate amounts beneficial to their health.
Encourage your child to eat breakfast every day
Breakfast provides your body with essential nutrients needed for energy and a good mood. This will help your child concentrate and perform better at school. Breakfast should be a combination of:
- Consume proteins from quality sources such as plant-based proteins, fish, nuts, and lean meats.
- Carbohydrates, especially from whole grain and whole grain foods.
- Vitamins from a variety of fruits and vegetables.
A healthy breakfast helps to reduce the tendency of unhealthy snacking throughout the day.
Your body functions best when provided with the right nutrients. Good feeding habits will help your child get all the nutrients required. Thus, instilling good feeding habits in your child is the best chance to lead a healthy life.
Remember, you may be forced to make several changes in your lifestyle while trying to help your child cultivate good feeding habits. Embrace the changes and aim to maintain good feeding habits for yourself. Your child is always watching you. Talk about healthy eating, act it, and they will imitate you.