To teach a child to eat healthy food is a mission, sometimes close to impossible. Admonitions about the magical benefits of food or threats in the form of depriving the evening portion of cartoons do not always work. Therefore, negotiations should be conducted using a professional approach.
The science of persuasion
The child sees, the child does-this simple principle is effective in all respects. Children tend to copy the behavior and habits of others, so a personal example is the most effective tool. You can safely take your favorite fairy-tale characters as assistants, who enjoy eating healthy food, which makes them more beautiful, stronger and wiser. Like, for example, the brave sailor Papay, who ate spinach by the kilos and was transformed under its influence beyond recognition. Heroes and their favorite healthy dishes can be invented independently.
Children will surely enjoy eating the right food if they are involved in the cooking process. No child will refuse the affectionate request of his mother to help her a little in the kitchen. He will throw vegetables into a saucepan with soup or stir a delicious porridge with an increase. And, of course, he would never refuse to taste a dish prepared with his participation.
You can arrange for a child to take a tour of the grandmother’s garden to water the beds or admire the harvest. Vegetables, collected and especially grown with their own hands, cause a keen desire to try them. If you do not have your own fazenda, take your child with you when going to the grocery store. The joint choice of vegetables, fruits and other healthy food significantly increases the interest in it.
Be sure to get some small home traditions, such as a family dinner on Sundays. Scientists have shown that if children regularly eat together with other family members at the same table, they are more likely to prefer home-made food, rather than the notorious fast food. In addition, this is a great way to get your baby addicted to new dishes. Seeing the happy faces of parents or older brothers and sisters, eating something delicious and appetizing, the child will be intrigued and will definitely try an unknown dish.
Vegetable presentation
It is difficult to teach a child to vegetables, since summer makes this task somewhat easier. First of all, vegetables should be presented fresh, so that the child will love their pristine taste. The presentation of the “dish” in this case plays a crucial role and is evaluated by small critics with all rigor. If the plate is full of all the colors of the rainbow, the child will be more willing to take up its contents. Try to lay out on a platter some simple picture of pieces of colorful vegetables or fruits.
Interesting serving of the dish attracts the attention of the child and awakens the desire to try it. Even if you simply cut tomatoes with roses, and make stars out of carrot circles and decorate a plate with them, say, with mashed potatoes, the success of the dish is guaranteed. If you spend a little more time, effort and imagination and build a three-dimensional composition of vegetables with skewers in the form of a forest animal or a fantastic creature, soon only skewers will remain on the plate.
Gradually, you should move on to more complex recipes and prepare various smoothies. As a base, you can take a couple of glasses of coconut milk with pineapple slices, add a cup of fresh spinach, half a banana, 2 tablespoons of flaxseed, a spoonful of peanut butter and a little crushed ice. A few minutes in a blender, and this mixture will turn into a vitamin-charged cocktail. Pour it into a glass and decorate it with a colored umbrella with a straw, feel free to offer the drink to your child. Even the most notorious whims will not be able to resist such a treat.
From vegetables, you can prepare delicious and healthy sauces that will be a bright addition to ordinary dishes. Take a few sheets of white cabbage, a couple of tomatoes, sweet peppers, zucchini, a little onion and garlic and chop it all in a blender. The result is a great sauce for stews, potatoes, or a delicious base for homemade pizza.
In word and deed
There are a few simple psychological techniques that will allow you to direct the taste preferences of the child in the right direction. Healthy food should always be in sight and at hand. Replace the vases with sweets and cookies with a basket of fruit or berries. Once again, passing by it, the child will not deny himself the pleasure of eating a fresh apple or banana.
An involuntary craving for chips, chocolate bars and other questionable snacks is characteristic of many children. You can reduce it by offering a healthier alternative. Chips are easily replaced by toasted crispy potatoes, and harmful chocolate bars-dried fruits or fruit salads. At the same time, do not forget to always praise your child for choosing healthy foods.
But what you should never do is to expect sweets as a reward for eating “tasteless” food. This will only contribute to the development of harmful habits and can even be the beginning of problems with excess weight. Food should be perceived by the child as a source of nutrients and energy for maintaining health. Do not read the child tedious moralizing and scolding for dislike of a particular product. Love him from this he will definitely not become, and ignite an ineradicable hatred for the rest of his life can certainly.
It is better to ask the child after the next lunch or dinner, what he liked most of the proposed dishes. Such gastronomic conversations will help you better understand the taste preferences of the child and in the future make successful menus. The expressed wishes are not always the whim of a little picky. Sometimes the mouth of the baby speaks the body that demands what it most lacks.
Nurturing healthy habits in children is a time-consuming and tedious process. Show a little patience and endurance, and you will be rewarded with a bright, cheerful child who chooses exceptionally healthy food for himself.