As a health professional, educating parents on purchasing, preparing, and serving healthy food is vital to help establish healthy eating patterns for children. Exposing children to nutrient-dense food and involving them in the meal planning process is critical as dietary preferences acquired at a young age can influence eating behavior and health status throughout life.
Parents are the most important role model when it comes to healthy eating.
As first step to establishing a healthy eating pattern for children, urge parents to eat healthy and make their home a healthy eating zone. Stock the kitchen with easy-to-grab fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products that have been pre-prepped. Then pulling together something like a nutritious grain bowl with pre-cooked veggies topped with fresh avocado takes just minutes to prepare.
Demonstrate how to involve children in meal planning and the grocery shopping process.
When kids help choose recipes and shop for healthy foods, they are more likely to try them!
Here a few ways a young child can help in the kitchen.
- A 2-year-old can wash fruits and vegetables and tear up lettuce greens.
- A 3-year-old can mix and pour ingredients and apply soft spreads.
- A 4-year-old can mash an avocado with a fork and peel an orange.
- 5 and 6-year-olds can measure ingredients.
Involve older kids in the grocery shopping process to show them nutrition label reading tips and how to select fresh produce, such as picking a fresh avocado. Let kids pick the avocado, prepare, taste, and rate the fruit when they get home. Then show them, for example, the basic steps on how to make guacamole.
Introducing young children to a variety of new, nutritious foods can be challenging as their desire for independence often results in picky eating behavior so it is important to start early. For helpful recipes and food planning tips that include avocados, please visit Love One Today.
