The FIVE most effective ways to get your child to eat healthily, according to experts
- Research shows eating patterns are learnt early, and develop into adolescence
- Children use parents as foodie ‘role models’: eating healthy when parents did too
- Strategies include pairing new foods with favourites, to offset the ‘yuck’ factor
- Authors from a new study reveal how parents improve their child’s eating habits
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Research shows that a child’s eating patterns are developed early – even while still inside the womb.
Here, in a piece for The Conversation, several authors from a new study on adolescent eating habits reveal the five best strategies to get kids to eat their greens.
For example, they found children use their parents as foodie ‘role models’: when parents ate more healthily, so did their children, something they called the ‘parents provide, children decide principle’.
Parents should therefore focus on their own eating habits instead of insisting that their children eat foods that are good for them, they say.
Other top tips from their research include varying your child’s diet, and pair less palatable foods with favourites – to offset the ‘yuck’ factor.
Eating habits develop in early childhood, meaning good and bad habits get established early
CHILDREN CAN PICK UP BAD EATING HABITS FROM YOUTUBE STARS
Children who watch videos of social media personalities are more likely to eat junk food, recent research showed.
Those who see their favourite online stars eating unhealthy food in videos eat nearly an extra 100 calories – 26 per cent more – when choosing a snack.
Scientists found children who watched YouTube stars such as Zoella and Alfie Deyes, both of whom have millions of online followers, made less healthy food choices.
Experts say children may find it difficult to tell what is an advert and what is the stars’ normal behaviour, because online advertising is more subtle than on television.
The research comes as celebrities are calling for the Government to crack down on how much junk food advertising is seen by children.
How to improve their children’s eating patterns
In a new study, we compared what children aged two to three years ate with what their mothers ate.
We also looked at what mothers ate during pregnancy to see which time point was more important for influencing a child’s diet.
While what mums ate in pregnancy was related to their toddler’s food intake, the relationship was stronger with what mum was eating while the children were toddlers.
We also found eating habits of fathers were related to what their primary school-aged children ate.
Helping dads improve their lifestyle habits and be role models for their children was associated with a reduction in the intakes of total sugars, salt and energy-dense, nutrient-poor (aka junk) foods and higher intakes of nutrient-dense (healthy) foods.
When the dads ate better, the children ate better. This was particularly the case for fruit intake, non-meat sources of protein and the frequency of eating meals that contained vegetables.
A key to developing healthy eating habits is to be a healthy eating role model. This way you show how to eat healthily, without force-feeding. This is described as the ‘parents provide, children decide’ principle. By having scheduled meals and snacks, when a child is not very hungry at one meal and so does not eat much, they will be hungry and eat more at the next meal or snack.
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Food for growing brains
The foods and drinks children eat provide them with the nutrients needed for growth and brain development. Better dietary patterns are associated with better school performance, especially among children who regularly eat breakfast, have lower intakes of junk foods and whose eating patterns are of a higher nutritional quality.
Our Australian study in over 4,000 children aged 8-15 years compared eating behaviours with National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) scores. It found more frequent consumption of vegetables with the evening meal was associated with higher test scores for spelling and writing. It also found more frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with lower test scores in reading, writing, grammar, punctuation and numeracy.
We surveyed over 100 Australian parents and found most had tried to improve the healthiness of the foods their children ate. Parents did this by trying to increase vegetable and fruit intakes, or by reducing foods they thought contained sugar.
Many parents were worried about their children’s eating habits. They told us they wanted more support in how to talk about food in positive and encouraging ways. They also wanted to know more about how to help their children develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
What a mother ate when she was pregnant affected thes child’s appetite when they were born
CHILDREN WHO EAT HEALTHIER ARE HAPPIER, STUDY SAYS
Children who eat healthily are more happy, because they have better self-esteem and fewer emotional problems.
While many may try to avoid eating their greens, a study has found children who eat healthily also appear to get on better with friends and avoid being bullied.
Researchers examined more than 7,600 children aged two to nine, who were asked how often they ate 43 types of food.
Those who best met European healthy food guidelines had better self-esteem and well being, regardless of their weight.
Dr Louise Arvidsson, one of the study’s authors, from the University of Gothenburg, said: ‘We found that in young children aged two to nine years there is an association between adherence to healthy dietary guidelines and better psychological wellbeing.
This includes fewer emotional problems, better relationships with other children and higher self-esteem, two years later.
‘Our findings suggest that a healthy diet can improve wellbeing in children.’
What can parents do?
1. Increase variety of healthy foods
Boosting your child’s variety of food and drink helps maximise their nutrient intake. Take the free Healthy Eating Quiz and use the feedback to boost the score for everyone in your family.
2. Introduce ‘new’ vegetables and fruit
A child might start with saying ‘yucky’ when introduced to a new food. This is a normal reaction to something new or unfamiliar. It’s frustrating as a parent – but it’s normal.
Try pairing new foods with all-time favourites. In an experiment, researchers offered children (aged 10-12 years) two kinds of chips (one familiar, one new). Some of these children were also offered a familiar ‘dip’ to go with it, while others were offered an unfamiliar ‘dip’. Those offered the familiar dip were more likely to try tasting the new food. Try this at home.
Make some oven wedges by splitting potatoes and sweet potatoes into chunks. Line a baking dish with baking paper, spray with oil, toss in the wedges and spray again. Cook in a hot oven and turn frequently till soft inside. Serve with a low salt/low sugar tomato sauce.
3. Be a healthy eating role model
Monkey see, monkey do. Everyone wins when you eat the foods you want to see your children eating.
4. Have set meal and snack times and eat as a family at a table
It’s important parents and caregivers share meals with children and adolescents at a table during mealtimes whenever possible. This provides an opportunity for parents to talk with their children about a range of things, including nutrition.
Eating family meals enhances child and adolescent health and wellbeing. Children who share family meals three or more times per week are more likely to be in the healthy weight range, and to have healthier dietary and eating patterns.
In adolescence, having parents or caregivers present at evening meals is associated with higher intake of fruit, vegetables and dairy foods.
5. Ask for some help
It can be hard to ask for help, or even to know where to go to get it. Australian data shows even among families where a child has excess weight or obesity and has attended a health service, very few families get advice or a referral to other health professionals for assistance with weight management.
If they do get referred they can end up on with a long waiting list or need to take time off work to attend appointments.
This article was originally published by the Conversation and reproduced with their permission.
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