As if parenting wasn't already a huge job (literally teaching them everything else in the world), it’s also part of "the job" to instill healthy eating habits that will shape their relationship with food for the rest of their lives.

Oh, and do all that without giving them any weird food hang-ups or body-image issues. No pressure!

In all seriousness, the way you talk to your kids about food and nutrition can have a lasting impact on their health.

With the right approach, you can help them build a healthy body image and develop a positive relationship with food — and maybe even sidestep some of the psychological challenges that can make it so hard to lose weight as an adult.

If you don’t know where to start, Ultimate Portion Fix will help you and your whole family establish healthy eating habits for life. The 75 Healthy Lunch Ideas for kids you see above is a valuable tool in this program!

Here are a few helpful tips for talking to your kids about food:

Focus on health, not weight

The childhood obesity rate has tripled over the past 40 years, so it makes sense that you might stress about keeping your kids healthy — especially if you’ve struggled with your own weight. But research suggests that focusing on weight rather than health is more likely to lead to unhealthy dieting habits down the road.

So when you’re talking to your kids about nutrition, leave weight out of the conversation, and focus on all the ways food can help their brain and body work better.

Let them dictate portion sizes

It may be hard to believe when you just watched your kid dip spaghetti in ketchup or eat a cold hot dog, but kids actually tend to be more intuitive eaters than adults — and they’re good (sometimes annoyingly so) at stopping when they’re full. Kids are naturally mindful. At any given meal or snack, a child might be more or less hungry than usual. Parents must learn to trust kids and their appetite so kids can, in turn, learn to trust themselves. Use the Ultimate Portion Fix for your own plates and instead talk about them as food groups and be sure your child has a variety of colored containers at each meal. Example: red, yellow, green etc.

Don’t label foods “good” or “bad”

The only food that is categorically ‘unhealthy’ is a food a child is allergic to or one that’s been spoiled or contaminated. Nothing else needs to be judged in that way. Sure, you don’t want your toddler to eat three giant pieces of chocolate cake — but instead of telling them sugar is bad for you, explain that some foods help you grow and stay healthy, while others are just fun “sometimes” snacks.

SOURCE

1. Don’t panic

While it’s normal to worry about your kid’s nutrition (that’s kind of your job!) a study in Singapore found that picky eating habits rarely affect growth.

Researchers also noted that getting angry when your kid refuses a food can only make things worse.

“What a kid is or isn’t eating should not be the focus of dinner conversation,” says Jill Whitney, L.M.F.T., and picky-eating expert. “Talk about everyone’s day, with the food as backdrop… that makes for much calmer and more pleasant mealtimes, which is as important as nutrition.”

2. Change your language

It’s OK to gripe about your picky eater with other parents, but steer clear of labels if your kid is within earshot.

“If you talk about how your child is a picky eater, he may come to see that as a core part of who he is,” Whitney says. “It’s much better to use language that implies his picky eating is a stage — ‘Sam doesn’t like cauliflower yet,’ or ‘Alexis is still learning to like salmon.'”

After all, a palate can change; you might have hated Brussels sprouts as a kid, but now you order them every time you see them on a menu.

3. Consider the example you’re setting

Maybe your meat can’t touch your veggies. Maybe you hate the smell of cilantro.

Maybe you — and by you, I mean me — can’t look at yellow mustard without gagging. Everyone has food hangups, and kids are no exception.

“It’s amazing to think about all of our picky eating habits and then expect children to automatically branch out,” says Amy Isabella Chalker, a registered dietitian who specializes in children’s healthy eating habits.

Rather than forcing your child to eat everything on his plate, let him decide what he’s ready to try — even if it’s just a dinner roll and a scoop of corn.

Fun fact: Carl Daikeler, Beachbody’s CEO and co-founder, does not like vegetables. Solution? His wife Isabelle and nutritionist Darin Olien created Shakeology so Carl would eat his greens.

4. Try, try, try… and try again

Don’t write off a food just because your kid tried it and hated it (or refused it altogether).

Research has shown kids sometimes need to be offered a food several times before they accept it.

“Some kids are naturally more open to new experiences,” Whitney says. “[But] the slow-to-warm-up kids may need to be exposed to new foods a number of times before they’ll be open to them, so keep offering them.”

5. Reward responsibly

There’s a fine line between rewards and straight-up bribery, but as a parent, you’re already a tightrope-walking master.

Instead of bribing your kids with dessert — which can reinforce the idea that sweets are better than veggies — Whitney suggests rewarding with verbal praise such as, “I know, isn’t that delicious?!” or “I’m so glad you tried it!” when they sample something new.

6. Include something familiar at each meal

I’ve used foods my picky eater already enjoys as a gateway to new grub: “You know how much you like baked beans? I bet you’d love lentils!”

Pairing a new food with an old favorite can encourage food acceptance, so when you plan dinner each night, Chalker says, “Try to include at least one familiar food so your child isn’t overwhelmed.”

If your little ones aren’t 100 percent into fruits and veggies just yet, a Daily Sunshine shake is a fun way to introduce them to healthy foods.

This shake is formulated especially for children, with a fruit and vegetable blend, plant-based protein, and healthy fats. It also comes in two familiar and tasty flavors: chocolate and strawberry banana.

“It helps reinforce healthy, balanced eating, in an easy, flexible manner,” says Isabelle Daikeler, creator of Daily Sunshine and wife of Beachbody CEO Carl Daikeler. “It provides all the ingredients we know are very important for our kid’s well being and often, foods which are difficult to get him to eat!

7. Get them involved in grocery shopping and meal prep

It’s important for kids to “feel included and engaged in the entire feeding process, from beginning to end,” Chalker says.

But she cautions against lecturing them about calories and vitamins. Instead, focus on making it fun: Challenge them to find a fruit they’ve never tried in the produce aisle, or ask them to help crack the eggs when you’re making quiche.

“It’s beneficial for children to observe these healthy habits, understand the food cycle, and connect to their food in an educational way,” Chalker adds.

8. Create FOMO

“Rather than going head-to-head with your kid, talk about what he’s missing out on: ‘You don’t want this delicious shrimp? More for me!'” Whitney says.

Or chat with the rest of the family about how yummy it is. You know how kids will ignore a toy until they see someone else playing with it, and suddenly they need to have it right this second? Same principle.

9. Use peer pressure

Obviously, peer pressure is the worst — but it’s also a totally useful parenting tactic, and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

“Tap into their desire to be older,” Whitney says. “Say, ‘Well, I guess you’re not old enough to enjoy butternut soup’ or ‘Yeah, eating only a few things is something little kids do — you’ll outgrow it.'”

10. Pay attention to presentation

Sure, it’s annoying when your kid eats three applesauce pouches a day but refuses to touch an actual bowl of applesauce.

But presentation plays a big role in kids’ perception of food. A study at Stanford University found that when kids were presented with two versions of the exact same food — one in a McDonald’s wrapper, and one in a plain wrapper — they gave the Mc-e-Dee’s grub significantly higher ratings.

11. Think outside the mac ‘n cheese box

When your kid rejects a piece of bread because the crust is “too crusty,” you might assume anything more adventurous would be out of the question.

But some kids actually prefer strong flavors. “Don’t avoid offering foods simply because you don’t think your child would like it — they may surprise you!” Chalker says. “There’s no harm in offering a wide range of foods, from the mundane to the exotic, as long as familiar foods are presented alongside novel ones for some degree of comfort.”

The same kid who won’t touch certain shapes of pasta might devour a plate of pad thai with spaghetti squash.

You never know until you try — and worse case, at least you’ll enjoy the leftovers.

SOURCE

Whether parents like it or not, snacking happens. Sure, some of us oldies might remember back when nutrition was all about “three squares and nothing in between,” but since the 1970s, snacking between meals has increasingly become the accepted norm — especially with kids.

According to a report in the journal Health Affairs, American children snack an average 3 times a day for 27% of their total daily caloric intake. Most of those snacks are dessert foods, soda and other sugary drinks, creating a weird bit of irony because even though kids now have more opportunities to eat, they’re getting less nutrition. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey — which examines the health and diet of Americans — showed that kids aged 2 to 11 have a low intake of mission-critical nutrients fiber, Vitamin D, and calcium. This discovery, in turn, resulted in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) listing these three things among the “nutrients of concern” for Americans aged 2 and older.

The good news is that parents can do something about this.

Snacks Versus Three Meals a Day

Kids are notoriously picky eaters, especially when it comes to fruits and veggies. Evidence of this is a CDC report showing 93% of kids do not eat enough veggies and 60% didn’t eat enough fruit to meet USDA daily recommendations. (In case you missed the memo, those recommendations work out to about 5 to 7 servings of fruits and veggies a day.)

Sure, you can try to force the little punks to eat all those greens at dinner — but we all know how that turns out. (I remember an especially epic duel with my dad when I was 7 over a mound of boiled broccoli that put me off cruciferous veggies — and into therapy — for years.) Instead, give your kids as many opportunities to eat fruits and veggies as possible. Access to healthy snacks gives kids more chances to fill their recommended produce quota.

If you’re worried that adding snacks to your kids’ eating schedule promotes overeating, don’t be. Research indicates it’s not that simple. A study in the journal Appetite suggested that while letting Junior free graze without restriction can lead to overeating, so can being over-restrictive, since it can drive them to pork-out when they’re finally given access to food. In the study, a “moderate level of restriction” lead to the best results calorically. In other words, a gentle, guiding hand probably works better than an iron fist when it comes to advising your kids on snacking.

What Are Good Snacks for Kids?

In a magical alternative universe, you’d just set out an apple and a carrot and your job would be done. Unfortunately, here on planet earth, feeding kids is slightly more complex than feeding a horse.

While fruits and veggies should be major players in the snacking game, there are other nutrients to consider — produce isn’t a great source of Vitamin D — and balanced snacks tend to be more satisfying, which in turn helps with overeating. So while there’s nothing wrong with giving your kids a piece of fruit, given them a combo of carbs, protein, and fats will really dial up the nutrition.

A few ways to upgrade the previously-mentioned Mr. Ed-inspired feeding strategy might be baby carrots with hummus or apple slices with cheese chunks. Other options include yogurt with strawberries, celery sticks with peanut butter, or (you probably saw this coming), there’s always Daily Sunshine, Beachbody’s new 3-in-1 smoothie that includes organic pea protein, ALA omega-3 fatty acids, and the equivalent to a full serving of fruits and veggies from dried and ground organic produce.‡

Not coincidentally, Daily Sunshine also contains three key DGA nutrients of concern — fiber, Vitamin D, and calcium — and it tastes really good. This matters for two reasons. First, kids like to consume yummy things. Second, adults like to consume yummy things too.

That second point merits mention since “parental role modeling” — or leading by example — has also been shown to inspire kids to eat all the fruits and veggies they need. In other words, enjoy a Daily Sunshine with your kids in lieu of shaking them up a glass then popping yourself another Mountain Dew.

Snacking isn’t going out of fashion any time soon — and that’s a good thing. Instead of cringing every time your kids ask for something to eat during off hours or letting them graze on garbage day long, take the opportunity to dial in their eating and give them the opportunity to fill up on the nutrients they need.

‡Concentrated powder equivalent to 1 full serving of fruits and vegetables, ⅝ serving of fruit ((Chocolate — 4.45 g dried apple, strawberry, and blueberry powders) (Strawberry Banana — 4.5 g dried apple, strawberry, banana, and blueberry powders)) and ⅜ serving of veggies (1.95 g dried sweet potato and spinach powders) per smoothie. Each 28 g serving (1 scoop) provides the equivalent of ½ cup fruits and vegetables (volume before drying).

SOURCE