Ten Tips For Life
Top Ten Tips: Getting Kids To Eat Healthily
Jamie Oliver has helped sort out school dinners - now it's your turn. Good eating habits start at home and it can be one of the most valuable lessons you ever give your kids. But before you sigh, remember that eating healthily needn't mean force-feeding your pride and joy salad and spinach. With a bit of imagination, creativity and maybe a little bribery now and again, you can improve your kids' diet immeasurably - and maybe lose a few pounds yourself! Pukka!
1. Make dinner an occasion
Lay on a show as well as a feast. Make mealtimes memorable by using your imagination rather than your culinary know-how. Themed meals such as a pirates' feast, a teddy bears' picnic or a superheroes' supper will excite little minds as well as their tummies. Costumes, music and activities - walk the plank anyone? - will help to create an unforgettable feast.
2. Get them involved in the cooking
Get the kids into the kitchen. Roll up their sleeves, put on their pinnies and show them what cooking's all about. It might be messy - there will be flour, sugar and tears (yours) - but it will definitely make them feel more involved and so proud of their creations that they might actually eat them!
3. Present food creatively
Good cooking is also about presentation and kids are just as demanding as the rest of us. In this technicolour world, stimulation is needed even at suppertime. So be inventive - use cookie cutters to shape pies, quiches and sandwiches, transform bangers and mash into a smiley face, and make artful displays with fruit salad, trifle and cakes.
4. Make lunchboxes a treat
If your little cherub is fussy, or you have doubts about the quality of their school dinners, then line their lunchboxes with some tasty treats. Carrot sticks with a dip, roasted veg and chicken wraps and mini kebabs all make a welcome change from soggy sandwiches! Fill their Thermos with nourishing homemade soup or a chilled smoothie for a break-time boost.
5. Be selective with takeaways
Takeaway needn't be a dirty word so long as fast food isn't fat food. Big chains such as McDonalds and Burger King have launched lower-fat menus and now even sell fruit. If you're having fish and chips, then make sure they eat the fish rather than the batter and serve on a plate rather than in the wrappings - you'll see how big the portions are then!
Lay on a show as well as a feast. Make mealtimes memorable by using your imagination rather than your culinary know-how. Themed meals such as a pirates' feast, a teddy bears' picnic or a superheroes' supper will excite little minds as well as their tummies. Costumes, music and activities - walk the plank anyone? - will help to create an unforgettable feast.
2. Get them involved in the cooking
Get the kids into the kitchen. Roll up their sleeves, put on their pinnies and show them what cooking's all about. It might be messy - there will be flour, sugar and tears (yours) - but it will definitely make them feel more involved and so proud of their creations that they might actually eat them!
3. Present food creatively
Good cooking is also about presentation and kids are just as demanding as the rest of us. In this technicolour world, stimulation is needed even at suppertime. So be inventive - use cookie cutters to shape pies, quiches and sandwiches, transform bangers and mash into a smiley face, and make artful displays with fruit salad, trifle and cakes.
4. Make lunchboxes a treat
If your little cherub is fussy, or you have doubts about the quality of their school dinners, then line their lunchboxes with some tasty treats. Carrot sticks with a dip, roasted veg and chicken wraps and mini kebabs all make a welcome change from soggy sandwiches! Fill their Thermos with nourishing homemade soup or a chilled smoothie for a break-time boost.
5. Be selective with takeaways
Takeaway needn't be a dirty word so long as fast food isn't fat food. Big chains such as McDonalds and Burger King have launched lower-fat menus and now even sell fruit. If you're having fish and chips, then make sure they eat the fish rather than the batter and serve on a plate rather than in the wrappings - you'll see how big the portions are then!
