Getting Kids to Eat Well

1. Start the day with Breakfast. Research shows that starting the day with breakfast can improve mental alertness!

2. Have your child drink plenty of water. Sprinkle in lemon or lime juice to provide a new twist.

3. Provide decaffeinated beverages (water, sports drinks, or 100% juice) to help keep your child well hydrated. Soda pops may not only cause us to lose water, but they also provide a lot of empty calories! Fruit drinks & punches also provide excess calories without the benefits of vitamins and minerals that are found in 100% juice.

4. Provide a wide variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Get creative and try sometime new with your child! Try mangoes, papayas, nectarines, and peaches for a change instead of your standard bananas and apples.

5. Provide foods in a wide variety of forms. Ever try frozen kiwi or grapes?

6. Fruit smoothies are a healthy and refreshing snack packed full of phytochemicals beneficial for you and your children! Frozen fruit can be used to make these too.

7. Chose whole grain / wheat versions of breads, pastas, and cereals. This is a great way to provide adequate fiber to your child. To tell if a food is whole grain, read the ingredient list. If you see the word "enriched", it's NOT whole grain.

8. Keep healthy, nutritious snacks available. Let your child chose from a variety of healthy options! The more healthy options you offer, the more likely you are to find healthy foods that your kids enjoy.

9. Have scheduled meals and snacks... and eat together! Children will not only learn to enjoy nutritious food, they will see the importance of eating well if they see you do it too!

10. Focus on adding healthy foods into your child's diet, rather than trying to omit the "unhealthy" foods that they may enjoy. (Research shows that the lack of nutritious foods in the diet may be more problematic for increasing disease risk than the presence of any foods we eat that are not so healthy.)