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

[EllieMumsnet]

This activity is now closed

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

do a weekly menu and get kids involved in choosing different fruit and veg to try

I add extra vegetables to pastas, cottage pie etc. My kids love casseroles as well so we load them with veg. We also make healthy fruit crumbles.

My youngest always wants to eat LOTS at around 10:30 instead of having a big lunch!

We always have strawberries and lots of fruit ,that all; of our children eat! x

When it comes to weekly food shops, I usually try to think of snacks i can by before hand and in the past I have researched into it too. Then I stick to my list as much as possible. I find the labelling on foods a bit too confusing and so I don't rely on them.

Blend vegetables into sauce mixes like spag bol, shepherds pie or pasta bakes! Godsend!

We've actually signed up for a subscription to LifeBox to eat heathier snacks as a family

We only drink water with meals, also if a child does not like a particular veg than try another, there are plenty around and you will find some that suit palates of all ages! Foe instance one of our DC likes Mediterranean veg whilst the other only likes UK veg...

I would say to teach them to trust their instincts they know when they have had enough and encourage them to stop eating when they are comfortable rather than full. Don't overfill their plates, and over face them and never make they have to clear the plate. Teach them by example to take time over your food.

Make food fun! We make fruit kebabs and veggie caterpillars. Funny faces sandwiches. If they are involved in creating it they are far more likely to try something new.

Try to make it fun to encourage eating, for example lay brightly coloured fruit and veg out on a plate to make it look like a clown face!

Liquidise healthy fruit and vegetables and add them to foods they like.
For example wraps, soups

In general, try and limit junk in the houseif it's not there we can't eat it!!. My kids know they can have cakes/sweets etc at parties and grandparents house, but at home there isn't any there, so they eat well because they have no other options!

Hide vegetables in the main body of the food like pies, sauces etc

get them involved in the cooking

Plenty of vegetables and fruit rather than sweets.

Weaning my DS we would cook lots of veg and store it in ice cube trays. Take a selection out of the freezer and a ready made meal.

My daughter is 15 and won't eat anything I healthy I serve up to her, despite liking good food. I've stumbled across an unusual way of getting her to eat it!

I make myself a double portion of, say, roasted vegetables and chicken. I then set half of it aside after I've eaten and say I'm going to refrigerate it when it's cooled. While we're standing in the kitchen she picks at it while we talk until it's all gone!

My kids are older now so I can no longer hide veg in food. I let them plan the weekly menu giving them some choice in what meals we choose

just have to keep going on about the benefits of healthy eating - and by setting a good example

Fun shapes work for us - fruit funny faces etc - also lead by example

Start them young on a variety of different foods. And always encourage them to try something new, even if they didn't like it last year.

Offer a range of tastes and flavours very early on to get them used to trying different things. And don't give in. If my daughter refuses to eat her vegetables/fruit, she doesn't get anything else and may be hungry. She soon decided she'd rather eat the healthy food!

blend lots of veggies to add to spaghetti bolognaise

Cook from scratch using lots of vegetables. Make ice lollies out of pureed fruit and yoghurt

Make the plate of food look fun or hide the veg discreetly!