Healthy Food for Happy Kids

Children and Advertising

Unfortunately, a lot of the foods we (and our children) see advertised on TV these days claiming to be healthy options or low fat foods containing added vitamins and minerals, also very often contain alarmingly high levels of sugar and salt.

Manufacturers and advertisers are very canny when it comes to the wording they use to describe their products and the power of these adverts, as we know ladies, can have an overwhelming effect on our little ones who beg and badger us for fun-looking cereals, drinks, fruit bars and snacks.

It’s hard to know what to feed our children sometimes as it all becomes so confusing and we don’t want to face another battle at the dinner table so we take the easy option by giving in to their demands. We are often left with grizzly, tired-looking children who throw a tantrum at the slightest thing and the cycle continues.

I think every mum struggles with how to feed their child at some point or other. My own children are incredibly fussy eaters and my older son has never been a big eater so I still find myself hovering over and feeding him sometimes at the age of 7!

However, in truth, it has never been easier for us either in terms of choice and availability, and alongside all the sugary processed stuff, supermarkets now are filled with fantastic ideas for healthy eating.

So what Can I feed my Kids?

A friend recently introduced me to frozen bags of fresh fruit that are portioned into little mini-bags that you take out of the freezer and whizz up in the blender with either juice or yogurt for a fresh smoothie.My kids love the novelty of it and I love not having to peel and prepare anything!

The best way forward is to look at what your child will eat fairly happily and build on that. My son loves avocado, nuts and eggs (mercifully!), so sometimes if I am at a loss, I have been known to give him humous or avocado on rice cakes, peanut butter sandwiches on wholemeal bread or scrambled eggs on toast if I don’t have much time, accompanied with a little salad on the side and a glass of milk.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem substantial enough for an evening meal. It is simple and healthy and that’s all that matters. If pasta is his/her favourite, make pasta using half brown and half regular, and add in some peas or sweetcorn or small pieces of carrot and broccoli, and incentivise them to eat some vegetables with their pasta.

This is a hard task as most children don’t like anything green (unless its processed!) but if you are firm enough, you can usually manage to get them to eat some. If they simply refuse, then offer some raw carrot, cucumber and halved cherry tomatoes. Get them used to the fact that mealtimes always come with some veg or salad and some of this HAS to be eaten. With plenty of praise, it will become easier.

Don’t overload their plates. Children feel overwhelmed by a mountain of food and really only need one or two tablespoonfuls of each food on their plate. I know they say the way to the heart is through the stomach but we want that heart to be a healthy one!

The Importance of Protein

Protein is a vital element of our children’s diet so some mini chicken strips or fish cakes or fingers are good. Also in lunchbox’s, try wrapping small pieces of cheese or slices of egg along with little pouches of cucumber and carrot sticks and chopped fruit. You can now buy tiny tupperware ‘lock-boxes’ that keep things from drying out or getting soggy and I find that children will be far more likely to eat it this way than being presented with a whole apple, banana or satsuma.

Try to give milk at breakfast and bedtime if your child will drink it. Again, my elder son will drink milk happily but my younger one who is generally a better eater, decided at an early age that he can’t bear the smell of milk and won’t touch it. He doesn’t have an intolerance to dairy products, so he has yogurt or fromage frais instead and I allow the odd milkshake here or there!

With fruit juices, buy those not made from concentrate and with no added sugar.

Chewable Vits

Finally, it might not always be possible to give the perfect balanced diet with all the nutrients your child needs, so give a good chewable vitamin supplement at breakfast. The key vitamins are: A, C and D withOmega 3 and 6 for brain development and IQ.