Young children often make food choices only via sensory evaluation with no heed to portion sizes or nutritional values. As their guardian, it is important for us to guide them on building healthy eating habits from young, so they grow up with a genuine appreciation for all things healthy and make wise choices about the food they eat.

Here are a few tips to teach our kids how to best nourish their growing bodies and minds:

1. Give them choices

Choices means giving them control. But we can give them two healthy options to choose from, such as an apple or strawberry. This way, our child will feel they have control over what they are eating while building healthy eating habits.

2. Cook together

Getting the kids to help in the kitchen gives an opportunity to talk about nutrition and increases the chances of them eating the healthy food that they have helped cook.

3. Strike a balance

Demonstrate to our kids that healthy eating isn’t about avoiding any one food or food group, but enjoying a variety in the right amount, including treats so they don’t feel deprived. For eg. chocolate-covered strawberries.

4. Make food fun

Kids are visual learners so teach them about healthy food perhaps through making a human body using veggie and fruit building blocks, eg. using peas for the eyes. Or maybe create a rainbow chart and get them to tick off the colours that they’ve eaten.

5. Eat together

There’s nothing quite like a family meal, because that’s when we can lead by example. If our child sees us eat a wholesome salad with every meal, they’ll do the same.

It’s not easy to instill healthy eating habits in kids especially when children often prefer foods high in fat, sugar and salt. But, with patience and persistence, we can slowly help our children make better choices. Not every meal has to be 100% healthy. We can work our way towards 90% healthy, leaving 10% for indulgences.