Early Years

Clever ways to get your child eating healthily

By Gabrielle Nash

Do mealtimes fill you with dread? Does your child have little interest in broccoli and beans? Encouraging their children to eat healthily is a dilemma many parents face. Whether you’re trying baby-led weaning or desperate to get vegetables into a pre-schooler, we’ve got some top tips on how to give their children the best start at the dinner table.

DO get your child involved. Can you offer them a choice of 2 or 3 healthy options? Even if they can’t chop the vegetables, can they wash them? Psychologists suggest giving a child an element of control will help them engage with mealtimes.

DON’T allow snacks 1 to 2 hours before mealtimes. If they come to the table hungry, they’re more likely to eat and even try something new. Sticking to similar times for snacks and meals will also help.

DO have a family meal. Often bad behaviour at the dinner table stems from wanting attention. Even if you don’t eat, can you sit with your little one and talk to them about their food?

DON’T insist on clean plates, especially if you bribe them to finish. Children are good at regulating their appetites and always insisting on finishing food or offering a bribe can lead to problems later in life. Remember: it’s the parent’s job to provide, the child’s job to decide.

DO model good eating behaviour. Your own anxiety towards food can contribute to poor eating in children. Think about how you approach and talk about food.

More healthy eating tips

Dr Pandora Giles from the University of East London works with parents and children. Here are her ideas for encouraging young children to eat healthily.

Make meal times fun. Chat, sing and talk about the food. What colour is it? Where do potatoes come from? Playing and laughing works better than stern instruction.

Encourage food play. Make a face out of fruit or a forest with broccoli! Desensitizing children to tastes and textures makes them more likely to try new foods.

When introducing new foods, offer them alongside a favourite.

If your child is eating little but drinking a lot of e.g. milk or juice, consider cutting back. Only offer water in between meals.

Have clear mealtimes that last around 20 minutes. Longer than that it can get stressful or boring!

Eat with your child when possible and offer encouragement.

It’s never too early or too late to start. Even if you’re still pregnant or breastfeeding, try to get a good varied diet. With older children, tastes change so it’s never too late to introduce some variety. DON’T offer alternatives. Or if you have more than one child, don’t make separate meals. If a child comes to expect yoghurt, toast or cereal when they don’t eat, they will soon learn to refuse even favourite meals.

DO encourage and praise; stress does not encourage a child to eat. Show them how you enjoy YOUR food. Don’t try “they’re good for you” when commenting on e.g. green beans. Use statements like “these are so juicy” “eating lots of food gives me lots of energy for playing with you.”

Lastly, remember, you’re in charge of what food is in the kitchen. If you buy healthier options, your children will grow up with a healthy and varied approach to food. So eat varied, fresh food and eat it with pleasure.

Follow Gaby @thelondonishmum on Instagram.

Playtime with Dad

Children whose fathers make time to play with them from a very young age may find it easier to control their behaviour and emotions as they grow up, according to new research.

The study carried out by Cambridge University and the LEGO Foundation looked at how mothers and fathers play with children ages 0 to 3 and how it affects child development.

Although there are similarities, it found that fathers tend to engage in more physical play like tickling, chasing, and piggyback rides, which researchers claim appears to help children to learn to control their feelings.

Professor Ramchandani, one of the authors of the study, said: “Physical play creates fun, exciting situations in which children have to apply self-regulation. You might have to control your strength, learn when things have gone too far – or maybe your father steps on your toe by accident and you feel cross.”