Healthy Eating With Your Children

It's that time of year when we all reevaluate our eating after those holiday indulgences. No one wants to cook something different for everyone. Here are five of the best strategies to improve nutrition and encourage smart eating habits in your household.

1. Have family style meals. 

• Children that eat family style make healthier food choices and are more likely to eat fruit, vegetables and grains.
• Family meals are a chance for parents to introduce kids to new foods and to be role models for healthy eating. 
• Involve your children in meal planning and preparation 

2.Serve a variety of healthy foods and snacks.

• Work fruits and vegetables into the daily routine, aiming for the goal of at least five servings a day. Be sure you serve fruit or vegetables at every meal. 
• Make it easy for kids to choose healthy snacks by keeping fruits and vegetables on hand and ready to eat. Other good snacks include low-fat yogurt, peanut butter and celery, or whole-grain crackers and cheese. 
• Serve lean meats and other good sources of protein, such as fish, eggs, beans, and nuts. 
• Choose whole-grain breads and cereals so kids get more fiber.
• Be a role model by eating healthy yourself. 
• The best way for you to encourage healthy eating is to eat well yourself. Kids will follow the lead of the adults they see every day. By eating fruits and vegetables and not overindulging in the less nutritious stuff, you'll be sending the right message. 

3.Avoid battles over food.

It's easy for food to become a source of conflict. Well-intentioned parents might find themselves bargaining or bribing kids so they eat the healthy food in front of them. A better strategy is to give kids some control, but to also limit the kind of foods available at home.

Involve kids in the process.

Most kids will enjoy deciding what to make for dinner. Talk to them about making choices and planning a balanced meal. Some might even want to help shop for ingredients and prepare the meal. At the store, teach kids to check out food labels to begin understanding what to look for.

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