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

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

We make our own pizzas . I use the bread maker to make batches of wholemeal dough which I freeze in portion sizes. We top with home made tomato sauce and the children select their toppings from a range on offer including lots of sliced veg.

I make a lot of soups which the children love with home made croutons or chunks of bread.

We grow a few veg to help them connect the food wee eat with where it came from and the effort that goes into it and they love to pick their own veg and eat them.

Children are not porn picky eaters, they are made to be that way.

The first thing my son tasted after breast milk was water. He pulled every face under the sun, spat it out & cried. That is where most people stop & say, he didn't like it.

Babies don't really like anything new, they just need time to get used to it.

My son sounded like we were trying to murder him when we progressed to a little mashed potato. He screamed with it stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Yet my son has only ever chosen to drink water, he is 16 now & hates all sugary drinks, eats all his vegetables & is not afraid of trying all sorts of new foods

Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, always let them know the names of new foods they are trying. I remember my youngest telling his teacher he had tried a new food he liked and it was the same name twice - she couldn't guess what he'd had until I explained that he tried cous cous for the first time!

I made sure to limit sugar early on and wean them onto veggies as soon as possible. I am quite lucky in that they eat most things so I don't have to worry that they aren't getting enough fruit and veg into them.
Carrots are one thing neither of mine like but I always grate some into any tomato based sauce for pasta or in things like soup and they can't even tell.

There are a few rules I stick to without question - plain yogurt only and no flavoured water.

DS is fussy though so I try to share from my plate rather than put things down on his. He’s more encouraged to try things if I’m having them

I think its hard to get your child to eat healthy once they start school and start going to their friends houses as they see their friends start to refuse certain foods or never anything healthy in their lunchboxes, so they start to pick up bad habits too.

My daughter definitely eats better when i make food from scratch and hide it in the food. For instance, she would never eat celery, never ever, but if i hide it in a cottage pie, she will eat the whole lot! xx

Incorporate healthy foods with tasty garnishes and good presentation. If it looks nice it helps enormously. Also getting the little ones in helping prepare the snacks gets them enthusiastic

We have always encouraged healthy eating and there is always plenty of chopped up raw veggies in the fridge. Snacks are fruit and we have never given juice, only water or milk. We always have wholemeal breads and pastas.

Meal times are round the table together and as both hubby and I are keen runners and swimmers the children do see that a healthy diet helps us to continue this as we get older.

I always add extra veg to sauces and I find a bit of bribery goes a long way, if you would like desert you have to eat all your vegetables!

I'm very fortunate in that my daughter isn't a massive sweet eater. She loves crisps but chocolate and sweets are few and far between. She still has easter eggs from last year!! She got given a tub of sweets like drumstick lollies, squashies, refresher bars etc at christmas and she's had about 3 things from it.

I also joined slimming world at the beginning of the year so she often has healthier meals in the evenings with me :)

invest in a blender, if the kids fussy they wont notice you ddding what they wont eat if its lended! i also find getting my daughter to help in meal planning has helped her lots shes terribly picky!

Hiding vegetables under in with other things, if I chop it up small or blend it into a sauce they don't know it's there.

Homemade sauces blended with loads of vegetables and blend up fruit for smoothies

My DC only likes drinking water and doesn't like sweets, cake, biscuits or anything like that (strange child!) so I have it easy really. I try to get him involved with cooking and baking so he can see what ingredients are going into his food and he is quite happy munching on an apple as a snack. On the other hand I don't mind giving him a yoghurt or a bit of toast with butter instead of fruit- I want him to have the attitude that everything is healthy in moderation.

Cook with fewer solid fats. Use olive or canola oil instead of butter or margarine. Bake or roast instead of frying. You can get a crunchy texture with "oven-frying" recipes that involve little or no oil.

Started weaning with vegetables and fruit and never looked back.

Our son had a great diet when he was on puréed food but as soon as lumps appeared we had major problems. In the end we had to relax about it and slowly slowly things improved. It did however take years!
He is has a brilliant diet now ...smoothies work well as well as homemade soups.

Introduce fruits and veggies when they're small, behave as if they are a treat (and not just sweets, chocolates etc). I also find growing and then cooking veggies with children gives them more interest in them. failing that, hide them in the food :)

We have a very healthy diet and I don't see any reason for kids not to have the same. There isn't any need for junk food or cupboards full of sweets and biscuits. My son used to love slices of apple to dunk in a yogurt. I think the messiness was part of the appeal. Fine by me if he eats it!

Mine really love a party snack plate, so they can pick at it. I put s lot of uncooked vegetables and salad and fruits with cheese. I am also very strict about the proportion they have to eat in order to earn a chocolate treat.

No pressure. Don’t force your child to eat anything, let them go at their own pace.

I encourage my children to snack on healthy food if they're hungry between meals - salad bits, fruit etc. When preparing food for meals I always put some bits out on the table while the main part is still cooking which my older two then start 'stealing' but really it's a way of getting them to eat the healthiest bits first!

Eat healthy stuff with them, limit unhealthy snacks in the house, but getting the balance is paramount

Getting my son involved in the shopping and cooking really helped when he was younger. He loved chosing which veggies to buy and then help chop them. He then was way more likely to proudly eat the dinner he had cooked :)

Set a good example by not having lots of sweet and salty snacks in the house