Share your tips for getting your children eating healthily with Little Yeos

[EllieMumsnet]

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Trying to get your children to eat healthily is a battle that many parents will inevitably face; from weaning onto solid foods, to dinner times through to pack lunches and beyond. There is a lot of information and recipes out there on what the best methods/techniques are to get your child to start eating healthily and how to incorporate nutritious food into their meals. With that being said Little Yeos would love to know any recommendations, recipes, techniques or experiences of getting your child to eat healthily.

Here’s what Little Yeos have to say: We’d love to hear your top tips for children’s healthy eating. Here are some examples to get you started:

Weaning:
What are your tips for weaning your child onto healthy food?
Do you find that your child prefers sweeter foods or more varied flavours?

Doing the weekly food shop:
Do you find it easy to find healthy snacks for your child?
Do you find nutrients labels on foods in supermarkets are clear?

Meal times:
Do you have any favourite healthy tips or recipes that work for your family?
What are your favourite healthy swaps?

Whatever your recommendations, thoughts or experiences when it comes to getting your child to eat healthily, share them on the thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

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Weaning:
My son loves fruit my daughter hates it and naturally has a sweet tooth so gave her every sweet fruit you can imagine (mango, super ripe banana, grapes in half obviously) Yes one child prefers sweeter food but the other will eat most food with varied flavours. I cook/prepare the same meals for them both so the child with a sweet tooth doesnt really have a choice!

Doing the weekly food shop:
In a supermarket where I can see the products it is easier to choose, online it is harder so I tend to buy the same things and wouldnt actually try anything new.
Depends on what the item is but generally no I do not find the utrients labels on foods are clear

Meal times:
Eat at the table together helps! Also sweet potato is a lifesaver, when in doubt I cook that and they love it.
Favourite healthy swaps is definately making our own homemade ice lollies, with fruit, ice and water healthier and less sugar and E numbers and they love it (even in the winter)

I would definitely agree with vegetable led weaning. One thing that is interesting when I compare my older dd to my younger ds is that dd (who was allowed to choose sugary cereals at nursery) now can’t eat anything “plain” at breakfast. My ds, (better nursery😂) is quite content to eat unsweetened weetabix or rice crispies.

I tend to offer fruit as a healthy ‘swap’ for sweets and biscuits. Both kids are crazy for strawberries and cherries. Much easier in the summer though, when those fruits are cheaper and tastier!

Adding veg to every meal

Baby led weaning is definitely the way to go when starting out. They don’t get used to the strange texture of purée, and often shop bought baby foods are full of added sugar. While they were little we used to feed D.C. whatever we were having, minus any salt.

Once they were a little older we looked for products with low or no added sugar (and we get through about 3 packs of Little Yeos a week as a result, so many yeokens on my account 😂). Mine are both fussier now they are a little older, but we talk to them about healthy fuel for their bodies and explain why we need to eat fruit, veg, protein etc. It’s working and they are both proud of themselves when they try new things.

I also think it is important to subtly keep an eye on your child’s weight. I see so many posts on social media where parents are in complete denial about their child’s obesity. The best thing we can do as parents is give them a healthy diet, and intervene as early as possible if they begin to go in the wrong direction. Otherwise we are setting them up to fail in later life.

I'm a single parent on a low income BUT I prioritise food for DD which means buying mainly organic fruit, vegetables and meat. I try and avoid anything that has been rammed full of antibiotics!! I've noticed that's DDs taste buds are slowly changing and if I ever buy food if a lesser quality she can taste the difference now.

Just try and keep it as pure and simple as possible and with lots of fresh fruit and veg.

We do a fruit platter at every tea time, we eat home made meals almost every night we eat alot of pasta ,rice ,salad dishes, my husband is a chef so our children eat well.
Also a part in our fridge is for the kids they have yogarts,cheese etc to snack on.
We keep sweets etc up high so they have to ask if they Want a treat.
We have a disabled child who struggles to put on weight and struggles to eat some foods so this does make it harder for us at times
We always eat at the table and together i find this does help with healthy eating. Summertime is the easiest time to start a healthy eating plan.

vegetables and fruits cut up are more appetising than whole!

Introduce them to everything, I tried every fruit and veg, I batch cooked meals from the Annabel Karmel cook book for fussy eaters.

I get my children involved and teach them about a balanced diet.

I love Spaghetti bolognese as its an opportunity to add extra veg.

I give a small bowl of chopped up cherry tomatoes and cucumber sticks or broccoli while I'm making the kids dinner, they usually are much more likely to eat it as they are hungry.

If you have 2 mins watch 'Dairy is Scary' on YouTube.

I try and teach DC what healthy eating means - such as eating a variety of foods, lots of fresh food, fewer processed foods, sugary foods only occasionally. I'm not sure it has worked though. DC know what the healthy choices are, but still have a sweet tooth.

We try to encourage our children to eat the same foods as us and to eat mainly fruits, vegetables and grains. We do not feed them meat or dairy. They do enjoy unhealthy foods, but in moderation. They know that eating meat is bad for them and bad for the planet. Our favourite family meals are vegetable risotto and pizza with mushrooms (with either no cheese or vegan cheese).

Disguise is key, once they’ve had it they usually like it anyway & end up asking for it 🤣

My daughter doesn't like most vegetables so my way round this is hiding these in food such as soups which she loves

I think variety is the key and helping your kids not to be afraid of different foods. We never prepare seperate meals for our kids and we get them trying all sorts of exotic foods. Makes feeding them on holiday easier too!

Start young and persist. My younger daughter was not keen with vegetables when she was young. I insisted for her to eat everything on the plate. She is 10 now and eats any vegetables - not just those usual ones, but also kale, spinach, aubergine anything really.

cooking with them is brilliant for getting them to try different tastes and textures. If they feel like they've been part of making the meal they are more likely to try things.

We don't have much of a problem here. Our children have personal preferences, such as one not liking carrots, mushrooms, and prawns, but they are quite happy with cabbage and broccoli. One just has to try everything and discover their preferences. One has to be honest, although perhaps telling them one saves money on fruit and vegetables to buy toys and books might not be a bad idea!

I cook everything myself using healthy ingredients so my boys have always had healthy food and have no issues with it as they've always had it.

Eat together as a family as much as you can.

Son was anti vegetables so had to hid them in as many things as possible so he didn't notice.

Letting them help you cook encourages them to eat what they have made.

Meals have lots of veg. Snacks are fruits mainly and water to drink.

I like to add vegetables to meals with sauces. Like I add extra carrot into my spaghetti bolognese

My boys have always had fresh fruit for breakfast everyday along with a piece of toast, and have done since they were 6 months old. My older boys love veg and eat it every night without issues. My youngest is a bit fussier but will eat some veg, he is getting better as he is getting older but I will sneak veggies in to sauces or cakes without him realizing as well.

My son is the fussiest eater ever
The only way to make him eat something healthy is when I make funny faces out of the fruit or veggies 🌽

Not giving up - just keep on putting the healthy stuff on their plates - one day they give it a proper go!

Getting them to help do the shopping and picking healthy foods that they will like has helped and they have started to help out with the cooking which has encouraged them to eat more healthy as well.