Healthy Eating for Children by Annabel Karmel
Talk to your children about marketing ploys. Explain that manufacturers put things on packaging to entice you to buy it. ‘Yes the packet looks great but lets read the label and see what’s inside it’. Make rejecting things into a game – children find it enjoyable to criticise the adult world and become detectives outwitting the enemy. For example, show your child juice drinks with tempting pictures of luscious fruit and then look at the ingredients and show them that they only contain 6% juice and 94% sugar and water. Explain that they need to look for the words pure fruit or 100% juice. Not only is this better for their health, its also excellent consumer education.
Lets face it, the typical weekly shopping trip is boring for children and just like adults children react to boredom by moaning or wanting to eat. Its best to give your child something healthy to eat like grapes or some dried fruit when you get to the supermarket. Play games like asking your child to find 6 fruits and vegetables that are red that they like to eat or choose 6 foods made from the milk you get from cows. Tell them that for every 6 healthy foods they put in the trolley they can choose a treat and when they have eaten the healthy recipes they can have a treat like cake recipes.
Don’t worry about saying NO….children are good at inducing parental guilt but you will make life hard for yourself if they know they can twist you around their little finger. It’s a good idea to encourage them to choose a different kind of treat like stickers, a novelty pen or a comic. You can find these in most supermarkets.
If you cant avoid the checkout laden with sweets, distract your child. Get her to help unload the shopping. Play games like asking where he thinks the fruit and vegetables in the trolley come from and which ones are grown in England.
Sometimes children are more likely to listen to someone other than you so its a good idea next time your child visits the dentist to take him aside and ask him to show your child photos of children who have rotted their teeth by eating too many sweets and drinking too many sugary drinks. You can remind them of the photos next time they are attracted by a display of sweets and chocolates and its not only at supermarket checkouts, its most places where children frequent like video rental outlets and even vending machines at school.
