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Healthy Foods Suitable For Children

By Urenna Ukiwe
30 August 2018   |   7:00 am
There is so much pressure to eat unhealthy junk foods and feed them to children as well. There is the busy work schedule that parents have, the mouthwatering advertisement on TV showcasing tempting, mouth-watering meals to enjoy and order at the snap of the fingers and not to forget the fast food at every corner…

There is so much pressure to eat unhealthy junk foods and feed them to children as well. There is the busy work schedule that parents have, the mouthwatering advertisement on TV showcasing tempting, mouth-watering meals to enjoy and order at the snap of the fingers and not to forget the fast food at every corner in town.

But everybody needs to keep healthy, especially children in their formative years. Switching to a healthy diet is far from easy, but it will have a profound effect on the health and mental development of children.

Children develop a preference on certain foods based on what they have been fed and exposed to when they were weaned and what they see their parents eat.

Here are ways to focus more on a healthy diet and teach a child to eat healthily:

Go natural

Avoid packaged, processed foods. Instead of cornflakes, bread, pasta and other packaged cereals, feed them with foods that are closer to its natural forms like pap with beans, moi moi, akara or plantains.

Child eating fruits. Photo: Firstcry Blog

Lead by example

Children learn by what they see. Eat healthy foods with your child. Do not force them to eat fruits and vegetables while you are snacking on pastries.

Make healthy meals tastier

People eat unhealthy foods because they tend to be tastier. While making beef stew or chicken stew, add a touch of vegetables. While serving pasta, add vegetables like carrots, cabbage, peas and onions to make it tastier and healthier.

Prepare healthy snacks

Instead of carbonated, sugary drinks and processed juice, prepare fruit juice and smoothies with bananas, avocados, yoghurt, apples, oranges, berries and other fresh fruit. You can equally give them fresh carrots to snack on or prepare a delicious fruit salad. It will be sure to give your child a nutritious and tasty meal.

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