Healthy Foods for Kids

Featuring Diana Steele, BSc, RD Healthy Foods for Kids Duration: 1 minute, 20 seconds

Trying to get your kids more interested in healthy eating is a great idea.

First of all, you can try and have them participate in food preparation and meal planning. Ask them what they would like to have for dinner, and then get them to help peel the carrots, make the salad and set the table.

You can also have them make their own lunches. By participating in making the lunch, they're more inclined to eat the food that they have put in there.

Have more family meals. Sit down at the table, turn off the TV and allow your children that are old enough, to serve themselves. Even four- and five-year olds would love to be able to take that spoon and put food on their own plate. Try not to talk too much about what they're actually putting on their plate, and encourage them to take a selection, trying at least a bite of everything.

Be careful with after-school snacking. If the snack is a little bit too close to dinner, they may not want their actual dinner, and dinner often is one of the most nutritious meals of the day. So if they aren't eating their dinner, try and wrap that up and offer it again later on.

Get rid of that junk food in the house. If you buy it, you can't expect them not to eat it, so if it's not in the house, they're not going to eat it.

And finally, be a good role model. You can't expect children to eat what you won't. For more information on how to get your kids to eat healthy, contact your local registered dietitian.

Presenter: Ms. Diana Steele, Registered Dietitian, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Registered Dietitian