Eat Right! For Families

Articles

Jul 1

Any time is the right time to "eat right" for your family's health and wellness! We'll be highlighting National Childhood Obesity Week in September this year, until then, take a little time to explore how to Eat Right!

Diet is an integral part of our overall health. It has an affect on everything from your energy level to your mental health. Maintaining a proper diet can sometimes get off track, especially with busy schedules and time constraints. In an effort to promote better health and wellness for your family, there are some ideas you can incorporate into your routine to make sure your whole family can eat right! Kids need to learn the foundational aspects of nutrition and how important food is in your everyday life.

One very important thing to remember is that perfection is not reality! Every human will make some errors or mistakes along the way, and it is critical that parents and families are not judgmental of themselves when things don’t work out just right. Any progress is good progress! Consider imparting that simple idea with everyone in your family to reduce the pressure for perfection and help make progress easier on all.

Focusing on Mealtimes

One way to start to create good habits as a family is to focus your efforts around mealtimes. Although it seems like a simple or even a normal thing to do together as a family, making the effort to make sure it happens regularly can have a great impact on everyone. While you eat a meal together you can talk about the occurrences of the day, help resolve issues that might come up at school, encourage healthy eating habits and a healthy weight, and potentially improve your child’s nutrition overall. Parents, grandparents, or any caregiver can implement mealtime routines to help benefit in so many positive ways.

Here are some things to think about to help your mealtime routine:

Variety

There are endless opportunities to try something new with cuisine. It can be a fun way to explore and learn about culture while also having something new to look forward to trying. Introducing new foods in a fun way that you all experience together can help kids feel comfortable with trying new things as they grow.

Cooking Together

You can create an appreciation for the food you eat by cooking it together! Kids can help measure ingredients or prepare food with you to help them share in the love that goes into preparing the meal.

Create a Calm Atmosphere

It is always easier to give the other members of your family attention when there is not something distracting you. Make sure you take away any unnecessary distractions like having the TV on or having phones at the table. Creating a calm environment where everyone can speak to each other helps create plenty of space for communication.

Balanced Meals

Try to be conscious of creating balanced meals at home. Even thinking about balanced snacks can help you be more conscious of working good nutrients into your regular routine. If you aren’t familiar with how to create a balanced meal or diet for your family, visit https://www.choosemyplate.gov/ten-tips-build-healthy-meal for tips to think about your meal planning. Teaching kids the basics of balanced meals can happen early, and can be fun to learn! (Visit: https://programs.online.american.edu/msne/masters-nutrition-education/resources/fun-ways-to-teach-nutrition-to-kids) Learning these skills early will also help make smart food choices when they are not eating at home.

What Full Feels Like

One way to help kids maintain healthy weight is not to encourage them to clean their plate, but to help them recognize when they actually feel full. If children are able to learn their internal signals for “full” they can better determine how to choose how much to eat and what kinds of foods to eat. This also helps them regulate their food intake if they eat meals away from home.

It can feel overwhelming to keep all of these different things in mind when it comes to mealtime, but every small step goes a long way. Instead of trying to make all of these adjustments at once, take things step by step and focus on one thing at a time. Start with whatever feels simplest or what would be easiest to add to your normal routine.

Grocery store trips are a great way to start the learning with the ingredients. One way to incorporate learning is to learn how to organize food into food groups like vegetables, fruit, dairy, protein, starch, etc. This can also be a way for kids to find new ingredients or get creative with their input if they are helping cook at home.

Along with all these ideas, the most important thing is to remember not to be hard on yourself. Think of every opportunity to reinforce these positive eating habits as practice, and perfection is not the goal. Different families have different routine, so simply doing your best and enjoying the time you all spend together is key.

Looking for more ways to help your family get healthy? Check out some of our other resources about family health and wellness to give you some ideas:

Additional Resources:

https://www.parents.com/kids/nutrition/healthy-eating/get-your-kids-to-eat-better/

https://www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/eating-as-a-family/raise-healthy-eaters-in-the-new-year

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/habits.html

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/childrens-health/in-depth/childrens-health/art-20044948

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/kids-healthy-eating-plate/