Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts

Picky Eaters: Parenting Tips for Picky Children

Posted in Labels: , , , ,

Do you have picky eaters at home? Do you think your preschool child eats only hot dogs and he does not want to try other food? Would he prefer to play around than to eat good food? Parents don’t need to get frustrated with their children who are picky eaters.  In order to avoid consistent struggles, parents can provide great help to their child and family.


There’s no need to be worried about what your child doesn’t want to eat.  Don’t take things seriously because you are not alone.  There are many children who are picky eaters but you can do something to make them driven and eat good food.


Food Eating Tips for Picky Eaters

1.  Understand your child’s lack of food desire.  Never force a child to eat his snack or dinner if you think he does not feel hungry.  Avoid bribing him either with money or anything just to eat all the food in his plate.  Probably, this may only result to a more difficult fight between you and your child.  Worse, your child might develop a feeling of frustration or anxiety.  Do not overwhelm the picky eaters.  Try serving little food portions only.  Most importantly, provide an opportunity for picky eaters to demand for second serving if they want to eat more.

2.  Keep the regular eating time. Serve the food every day within a fixed time schedule.  If snack is served at 3:00 p.m. and dinner is 7:00 p.m., then stick to it.  Don’t change the routine time to eat for picky eaters.  Give milk or juice together with the food; but give only water between snack and dinner time.  If the child drinks juice and milk the entire day, he will lose the appetite when it is time for dinner.

3.  Be patient with strange food.  Picky eaters would always react to the smell or appearance of a new dish.  Instead of eating, they may taste a little of it and then drop it out of their mouth when they dislike the taste.  The trick here is to expose frequently the new food.  It takes several days before picky eaters begin to the food.  Entice him to eat by describing the goodness of the color, shape, smell, texture—not the seemingly bad taste.  For picky eaters, a new food is not acceptable until they become used to it. 

4.  Make the new food look exciting.  Serve veggies, fruits, and broccoli with the child’s favorite sauce.  Using a designed cutter for cookies, you can slice the food in different forms and shapes.  Serve bright-colored food.  Make the new food physically delicious and attractive to picky eaters.
5.  Seek for the help of your child.  When buying in a grocery store, ask your child to choose what vegetables, fruits, and nutritious food to get.  Never purchase food he does not want to eat.  When it’s time to prepare the food, tell her to join you in cutting, rinsing, and cooking.  Ask her to set the table so she could eat the food both of you have prepared. You can always encourage picky eaters to eat the food they cook.
6.  Don’t serve another food.  Children become more picky eaters if you prepare another food for them.  If the child refuses to eat the served food, motivate your child to stay and not to leave the table.  Serve again the food several times for the next few days until the child becomes accustomed with the new food.
7.  See a doctor.  Just in case the developing growth of the picky eaters is compromised, then see a doctor.  Take into consideration the last 3 days of your child’s food intake and its amount.  This may help in easing anxieties.  In addition, a record of your child’s food will help the doctor to identify any problem. 
Bear in mind that it takes time to change the eating habit of picky eaters. It’s not an overnight process. However, the steps you take every day are little successes in stimulating a healthy eating habit for picky eaters. 

------------------------------------
If this is your first time to visit us, then you can subscribe to our FREE SUBSCRIPTION.
You can also leave your thoughts by posting your comment on the box below.  
You can also share this to your friends via social networking sites provided below.   
It’s all my pleasure to have you visited this blog!!

Picky Eaters: Parenting Tips for Picky Children  is a post on Modern Parenting Tips: Styles & Approach to Train & Discipline Children



0 comments

Health and Food Tips: 7 Healthy Eating Habits for Parents

Posted in Labels: , , , ,

If we parents should make just one promise to ourselves that concerns children, it should be a life-long investment on health. Tips for effective parenting come only from parents having healthy eating habits. This is where strong minds and body come from.  Poor parenting comes from having poor health and chronic sicknesses.  Parents can only take care of their kids as much as they can take good care of their own selves.

Being busy parents is not an excuse for not taking care of ourselves.  This is true when it comes to providing themselves with right food and nutrition.  Without understanding the healthy eating habits, parents tend to eat less and choose the wrong kinds of food.  Today, they are more concerned about their children’s welfare and simply neglect their health.  All through the day, 24 hours is given to children and there’s almost no time left for themselves. 


Healthy eating habits all parents should develop:

1.   Consume less meat, and buy leaner cuts.  Before eating, pick the leanest option, trim all visible fats from meat and remove the skin from poultry.  Don’t go on a crash diet; this is risky to your health.  Maintaining healthy eating habits means discipline on the part of parents.

2.   Never assume that a fat-free or low-fat label indicates the right food diet.  These labels do not necessarily mean the product is also low in calories.  Also, watch out for sugar and sodium content.  Since fat plays a big part in making foods taste good, sugar and sodium may be added to make up for the lack of fat.  By going fat-free, you may take in excess calories, which are eventually converted into body fat.

3.   Healthy eating habits help parents keep blood cholesterol levels.  Eat more oats, carrots, chick-peas, and soybean foods.  Use lots of garlic in your food.  This powerful clove keeps down blood pressure, cancer, infections, and diabetes.

4.   Take time to chew your food, as this prolongs eating and gives you the feeling of fullness.  It also aids digestion and helps you savour the food fully.  If you must reach for seconds, wait for 20 minutes after you’ve finished the firsts.  It takes that long for your brain to know that your stomach is full.

5.   Drink a full glass of water before a meal, and another one during the meal, even when you’re dining out.  This aids digestion and makes you feel full.  The healthy way to eating habits is avoiding salty foods: anchovies, smoked fish, pickles, capers, luncheon meats, salted snacks.  Use honey only if you prefer its flavour.  Honey is no more nourishing than ordinary sugar.

6.   Eat potatoes for Vitamin B and C, minerals and protein.  The potato has the undeserved reputation as a fattening food.  However, it is the butter we use when we eat baked potatoes that add up the calories. Whenever possible, eat the skins of the fruits and vegetables.  You get the most nutrients that way including the roughage you need.  Including fibers make healthy eating habits important for parents. 

7.   Cut down on bacon, ham and other treated meat products.  They contain sodium nitrate and nitrites are widely believed to be cancer-causing.  Neither excessive fat consumption nor fat phobia is good for parents healthy eating habits.  We have to get the pendulum back to the middle where there is a place for some fat in our lives.

Above all, remember that balance, variety and moderation tips form the basis of a healthful diet.  These are the genuine, healthy ways to all eating habits parents can do.  They need to get out nutrients from each food.  This means 50 to 55% from carbohydrates, 15% from protein, and 25 to 30% from fat.  Parents should learn to eat these without having guilt on themselves.


Health and Food Tips: 7 Healthy Eating Habits for Parents  is  a post on  Modern Parenting Tips: Styles & Approach to Train & Discipline Children



Related topics to read on:

    0 comments

    Eating Habits : Keys to Developing Healthy Eating among Children

    Posted in Labels: , , , ,

    Children naturally eat food when they are feeling hungry.  There are times they don’t want to eat, not because they don’t like the food but because they're not really hungry.  But if they want to eat, they ask for food.  This is not same with adults who keep eating even they're already full. Unfortunately, many children are now overweight kids because they are trained to eat like adults.

      
    Our present generation has lots of bad food to offer every day.  If these foods have become choices of your children, sooner or later it will be their lifestyle.  Today, responsible parents should apply corrective measures as far as food is concerned and take into consideration their child's health.  So here are some ways to enhance good eating habits in your homes:

    Tips for Eating Kids

    1. Avoid limiting or controlling food.  If parents have the habit of restricting food to their children, the latter will only build up eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia later in their lives.  It has chances of having defective growth development.

    2.  Always make healthy food available.  Children will normally eat what they see.  Display a variety of fruit on a big bowl.  Offer some apples for snack.  As much as possible never put on display anything that you don’t want them to eat—something that’s not healthy to eat.  Keep in mind that a child will be eating food that is seen in the house.

    3.  Never brand the food as “bad” or “good.”  Rather, tie the food to the stuffs your children love so much like appearance, sports, cartoon, or toys.  Tell them how certain food like turkey and other lean meat can provide them protein, how calcium in dairy products provide them energy for physical performance and sports.  Fruits and vegetables serve as antioxidants.

    4.  Give compliment if they choose healthy food.  Show your appreciative smile and let your children understand how smart they have become because of healthy food they eat.

    5.  Avoid nagging at your children if they have unhealthy food choices.  Just ignore it, if they do.  Or if the child likes eating fried, high-cholesterol content, fatty food, then redirect the choice.  Offer them to try roasted potatoes in the oven, rather than french fries.  Or if he likes candy, you optionally offer fresh strawberries coated with less chocolate sauce.  Too busy to do it?  Then give them organic sweet dried fruit for quick snacks.

    6.  Food is not good to reward a child.  Eating creates only weight problems in their bodies.  Better yet, reward them with things for fun and physical benefits like an adventurous journey, fast catching games, or hide and seek family play.

    7.  Seek advice from your health care specialist.  It helps if you regularly visit your child’s doctor and nutritionist before doing a diet for your child, changing the type of food, attempting to help him gain or lose weight.  Don’t make any diagnose that your child is underweight or overweight.

    Changing your children’s diet and eating lifestyle are continuing and not overnight.  All food outside the house can make overweight kids.  Each time they are off home, people around can make them eat much and indulge in wrong food.  But the eating style they learn from you is capable of protecting them for a lifetime!

      0 comments

      Fast Food: Burgers, Fries, Pizzas Make Overweight Kids

      Posted in Labels: , , ,


      Today, our society is filled with overweight kids because of the different fast food restaurants that cater both to parents and children.  Food specifically is their nature of business.  As years go by, more and more are launched in the market and children from all sorts of life try to take advantage of what they can offer them.

      Fast food restaurants may promote instant food to eat, but how safe are they to promote the healthy lifestyles of your children?  Sad to accept that burgers, pizzas, fries, hotdogs, sodas and other children’s favorites are not healthy foods, although kids may consider them most delicious.

      Findings about Overweight

      What these restaurants claim is that their products are not the major source of overweight kids.  Whether there is truth to this or none, still the concerned parents are the ones in charge of their children’s health. Consider the  following:
      • A new research shows that children who eat instant-cooked food tend to eat larger amounts of food the whole day.  They become overweight kids because they eat more than what their body needs. 

      • Statistics shows that on a given day, approximately 1/4 of the children in a particular country would eat in these restaurants.  This involves the young boys and girls in every race and cultural group.  It includes all the regions in the nation.

      • In just one whole year, young boys and girls are able to increase their weight to about eight more pounds.  This is because of the high cholesterol contents eaten in fast food restaurants.

      • The sugar, salt, fat contents do attract the children like a magnet.  The tastes are appealing to the kids as well as the appearance and the smell.  They satisfy children's cravings.

      • The great taste is the triggering factor to every child including their adult parents. The small amount they consume will enhance more cravings for indulgence.   It promotes more eating in the afternoon until evening. 


      Deprived of Fruit and Vegetables

      Since the choice of food does not include enough fibers, the children will not feel full immediately.  Consequently, they tend to eat larger amounts for the rest of the day. Foodstuffs consumed will compromise the children’s diet in general.  Better options like fruit and vegetables are ignored and they play only a small role in children’s overall food nutrition. Depriving your children with the right food will develop obesity and weight-gaining problems.

      Pizzas, burgers, fries and other similar food have the highest chances of making overweight kids if eaten beyond control.  Remember, the lifetime health of the kids start at the very young age, so be aware how you, parents, feed them every day.



      Fast Food: Burgers, Fries, Pizzas Make Overweight Kids is  a post on  Modern Parenting Tips: Styles & Approach to Train & Discipline Children


      Related topics to read on:


      0 comments

      Overweight Kids: Controlling Overeating to Avoid Being Obese

      Posted in Labels: , , ,

      My son is an overweight kid, a problem I never expected to happen to him.  My other two children are just fine in their weight, and I can keep their favorite food around the house just for the two kids.  The trouble comes when my obese son sees the food he goes on overeating everything he can see around.  I feel totally disturbed and I really don’t know how to deal with it.
      You did not point out visiting your regular doctor to realize if your son really should be classified as “obese.”  Because you have always feared having an overweight kid, you might be mistaking a case of being a little overweight with one of obesity.  In any case, this is not easy for you, and you wish you could do something about it.

      Obesity or overweight is a severe difficulty for children and for those parents who care about them.  Large children quickly discover that adults normally are sorry for them but that peers exclude them.  Being obese can obstruct a child’s capability to join effectively in a lot of activities.  The most important question is that obesity is disadvantageous to the child’s health and personality.  Some factors can be considered to control overeating:


      1.   Ask your other children to purposely help you.  Tell them that you are going to buy only healthful food for snacks, and that you trust they will not complain but understand it’s really better for their bodies, too.  Prepare very good but low-calorie meals.

      2.   Avoid nagging or showing disgust toward your son.  Rather, let him know how much you care about him no matter what his weight is.

      3.   Try to find out a guide in his eating binges; they might happen, for instance, when he feels fed up or disappointed about his school experiences.

      4.   If you can get him occupied in an activity, the problem might resolve itself.  This action could be a pastime (making models, taking care of a pet, collecting stamps—it really doesn’t matter what, as long as it makes him interested) or a neighborhood work (car washing, cutting of grass, etc.).  

             5.   And, most importantly, give an overweight kid the attention on matters not related to his predicament.

      Being obese and indulging in overeating are within a person’s control.  It helps if you can apply these tips and find out how well they can work for your child!



      Overweight Kids: Controlling Over-eating to Avoid Being Obese is  a post on  Modern Parenting Tips: Styles & Approach to Train & Discipline Children



      Recommended topics to read on:


        0 comments