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You are here: Home / Sensory Regulation / 10 Ways to Healthier Eating for Kids

10 Ways to Healthier Eating for Kids

August 28, 2016 by Amy Smith

Eating healthy isn’t just beneficial for obvious health reasons, studies show that healthy eating improves mood, energy levels, frustration tolerance, and can decrease hyperactive behaviors. Parents want their children to eat healthy, but oftentimes getting them to get healthy is quite a challenge. Plus there’s the mental space it takes to plan and shop a healthy diet, you can see why some parents use meal delivery services, but even then it can hard to choose between Blue Apron vs Home Chef. Looking for some help? Here are 10 ways to healthier eating for kids!

Kids tips for learning how to eat healthy foods.  Great for kids with sensory issues who may be adversive to certain foods.

1. Calm down before you chow down- Trying new things, especially unfamiliar, healthy foods, can be scary for kids, so get their bodies as relaxed as possible before eating. Chronic stress also triggers signals in the body to pick unhealthy foods in an effort to temporary uplift mood (Food and Emotion).

If your child has less anxiety and fewer stress chemicals in their bodies, then your child will be better suited to try something new and healthy. Try this cookie dough activity or joint compressions to help with calming.

girl watermelon

2. Use a food social story- Give your child a game plan before expecting them to try an unfamiliar food. Social stories help reduce anxiety and provide auditory and visual information about what to expect on the taste and texture of the food. You can make your own social stories or find videos of social stories online through sites like YouTube.com

social story for food

3. Decrease sensory defensiveness- Just like deep pressure or brushing the skin have calming effects on the body, brushing the insides of the mouth with an oral sensory brush (like the one shown below) can help decrease tactile sensitivities in the mouth before eating. This will allow kids with sensory issues such as tactile defensiveness to tolerate a wider variety of foods. oral brush

4. Make healthy food look fun- Steal the tricks that the junk food marketing companies use and make healthy food look more fun too. Use cookie cutters to cut out pieces of fruit or veggies into different shapes or characters. You can also check out some healthy recipes from https://www.goodculture.com/recipes-1 to change up what they eat so it is never boring.kiwi heart

5. Change up the consistency- Your kids may not eat fruit or veggies that look like plain old fruits and veggies, but they may love fruits and veggies that have been transformed into smoothies or Popsicles! Bananas, spinach, carrots, or mango are great in smoothies and pureeing things like watermelon, oranges, pineapples, or strawberries freeze to make great Popsicles!smoothies

6.Presentation is key- Food arranged in fun, kid-friendly designs like smiley faces, princess crowns, or superhero shields can be highly enticing for your child. Don’t worry if your carrot design looks more like a crooked line than a magic wand, kids have great imaginations that will make up for any imperfections.

food art

7. Start with something healthy– Forget the typical fancy meal. Rather make something healthy like veggies your “first course” at each meal by putting them out for the kids to eat first, even on a separate plate if needed. After the “first healthy course” is finished, then bring out the rest of the meal. Additionally, give them a taste of variety. In this regard, ordering healthy and tasty food could also save the day. If you want, you could order nutritional bowls from online food delivering services like prepuk.com. Remember to serve healthy balanced meals that could keep your kids fit. veggies circle

8. Get active before you eat- Studies show that being active before eating causes us to pick healthier foods than junk foods so go play before dinnertime.

kids playing in woods

9. Slow and steady wins the race- Before all else, we all need to realize that eating healthy isn’t an overnight transformation, even for the most ambitious and motivated individuals, so a healthy heaping of patience is needed. Start by slowly introducing healthier foods while slowly cutting back on the junk. Going “cold turkey” with all the junk one day is just going to cause your child to become very upset and chance are, the health kick will be short lived.

food in jars

10. Be a role model- How can you sit at dinner and expect a 3 year old to eat veggies and fruit if you are eating french fries? Children will watch and learn from your eating habits, so the healthier you eat, the greater the chance your child will want to as well!girl with apple

Eating healthy foods is a big part to regulating your child’s behaviors and keeping your child healthy. Take advantage of the opportunity to guide your child into healthy eating choices while they are young!

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Filed Under: Sensory Regulation, Therapist's Tips Tagged With: healthy behaviors, nutrition

Disclaimer

Kids Play Smarter is a blog about general ideas, theories, and concepts related to the field of occupational therapy and the growth and development of all children. The information presented on this blog is not intended to serve as or replace occupational therapy services for your child. The information on this blog is for entertainment, informational, and educational purposes only. This blog is not meant to replace formal professional consultation or evaluation from a qualified clinician. All children need to have the approval of a physician to participate in physical activities, including those described on this blog. In addition, children need to be supervised by a responsible adult at ALL times when completing activities that are illustrated and described on this blog. The author of this blog is NOT responsible or liable for any damage, injury, accident, illness, death, or adverse reaction due to participation in the activities described on the website.

Welcome to Kids Play Smarter

Amy Smith I am an occupational therapist with over 10 years of experience working with children. I created this website to offer parents, teachers, and therapists FREE ideas, strategies, and activities that they can do with their children to improve their fine and gross motor skills, handwriting, academic learning, and regulate their sensory system all while "playing" (just playing smarter)! Read More…

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