Eat Right: Tips for parents to build healthy food habits for their children

Did you know that a healthy relationship with food in a child is directly linked to maintaining healthy weight and reducing the risk of diseases like childhood obesity and diabetes? If a child has a healthy relationship with food they tend to develop good eating habits and make nutritious choices as they grow older. It promotes the consumption of a balanced diet which includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and dairy products.

Also, in a country like ours, food often plays a central role. When children have a healthy relationship with food, they can participate in social situations without getting stressed. It allows them to enjoy meals and celebrations with family and friends, and promoting positive social experiences.

So, if your child is a fussy eater and prefers to eat only certain kinds of food, it is important to develop a healthy relationship with food, said Nalini Malik, a Home Science educator at Apeejay School, Saket, who teaches classes XI and XII.

“Remember that the best way for a parent to ensure that their children has a healthy relationship with the food requires a lot of patience and hard work. This rests on the shoulders of the mother. You can’t let the child dictate things. If you leave the kid, he/she will always want to eat food that is fancy,” Malik said.

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“A great way for a parent to build a child’s healthy relationship with food is to involve him/her in meal planning or get them to help a parent in cooking a dish. It could be as simple as getting the veggies from the fridge to select what ingredients should be used”

–Nalini Malik, a Home Science educator at Apeejay School, Saket

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There is an adage: You eat with your eyes first. “The parent should present the food in a manner that appears appetising. There is a reason why kids love going out to eat. The way a dish is presented makes it appealing. There is also a reason why there is so much stress by even renowned chefs across the globe when it comes to garnishing,” Malik explained.

What can parents do?

Does your child love Chinese food? Think of different ways that you can make your child eat veggies. “It could be Manchurian that has been made using bottle gourd (lauki). Or you can make noodles and add lots of veggies. But follow a rule of thumb here. To begin with, give your child what he loves more and what he doesn’t like less. Gradually reverse the proportion – more of what he/she doesn’t like and less of what is loved. Slowly, over time, the child will learn to eat everything and develop a healthy relationship with food,” Malik said and added that she has been teaching since 1997.

Here is another example. If your child loves puri-alu, instead of giving plain atta puri and sabzi, make a beetroot or spinach puri. Not only does the food look pretty, the child will develop a taste for these veggies as well.

“A parent can make eating food for the child fun and interesting, especially, if they are toddlers. Make a yellow puri with besan, green puri with spinach and red puri with beetroot on different days. Tell them the importance of eating them. Spinach is rich in iron which is necessary for proper growth and development. Next time you serve a green puri, quiz the child. This way the child would have not only eaten healthy food but learnt a lesson as well,” Malik opined.

Involve the child in meal planning

A great way for a parent to build a child’s healthy relationship with food is to involve him/her in meal planning or get them to help a parent in cooking a dish. “It could be as simple as getting the veggies from the fridge to select what ingredients should be used. A child has a creative mind and would want to eat what he/she has had a hand in making. The pride with which the child will say: I have made this, will help develop a good relationship with the food,” Malik said.

Tackling ‘I want to eat out’

Malik said that instead of giving in to the demand of the child to order food from outside, give them the option of using their skill and creativity. “Tell them to garnish the dish as they deem fit. Let them make it visually appealing to them. Lay the table properly, how you would if you had guests over. Kids love to see a table that is decorated where the dishes have different colours. Also, ensure that if you are cooking for a child, you can change the shape of the dish. Instead of the usual round shape for a vegetable cutlet, use a cookie cutter to make a star,” Malik said.

If the child wants to eat a pizza, instead of ordering from outside, make one at home with wheat flour and add lots of veggies like corn, capsicum, paneer, and mushrooms to name a few and top it with cheese and bake.

“This way the child will end up eating food that has carbs, fat, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. If the child loves eating idli-dosa, make a spinach dosa or idlis with lots of veggies like carrots and peas and serve with sambhar; the meal is a combination of carbs, protein, veggies, minerals and vitamins,” Malik shared.

Don’t force your will on the child

While it is important that the family eats together, it is not necessary that what the parent eats must be forced on the child as well. “A parent may want to eat bitter gourd (karela) but a child will not eat this veggies nor for that matter turnip (shalgam). But if you want the child to eat this vegetable, use a trick that my mother used. ‘Oho, I don’t understand why some potatoes are sweet’. I would eat the sabzi thinking it was alu. Over time, I developed a taste for this veggie,” Malik recalled.