In the previous article I discussed healthy meal plans for the family. Today I will be even more specific and I will discuss Healthy Meal Plans for Kids. Children are extremely smart, and are extremely quick at picking up lifestyle changes, as well as habits. This is why it is extremely important to keep the Kids involved in their healthy meal plans.
As we all know, it is not extremely important that we “count” our children’s calories. We must make sure that they are getting Enough HEALTHY foods, and teach them a healthy relationship with snacks.
Snacks should be left for rewards. What do I mean by rewards. Well, after dinner, when the kids have eaten their vegetables, then you can say.. “you only get the cookie if you eat all of your veggies”. This works until they are about 5, then they start to ask for more. But I won’t go that far in this article.
OK- so keeping the kids involved. Here are a few fun ways to keep the kids involved in their healthy meal plans, and this may actually make your job a little bit easier when packing lunches.
Teach your children how to make their own sandwiches. If you choose to put processed meats in their sandwiches, be sure that you choose extremely lean cuts of meat as well as a very low-sodium content. Give them a choice of vegetable that MUST go on the sandwich, and they will certainly enjoy this. Choose things like spinach, or tomatoes.
As far as the rest of their lunch goes, let them pack up some baby carrots on their own. Let them put the yogurt AND the spoon in the lunch box, and of course, give them a couple of “snack options”. These can be things like granola bars, peanut butter (soy butter because so many schools no longer allow peanuts) on crackers, crackers and cheese, apples, oranges, celery sticks.
The idea is the make sure that they are getting enough healthy foods! Make sure that your child is involved in this. Children are more likely to eat things that they prepare. This is a fact. If the child has put the effort into something, chances are they will eat it.
Not only does this benefit them in their youth, but these are healthy habits they will be sure to carry on into their adult hood.
Most importantly when considering Healthy Meal Plans for Kids, make sure that they have a variety. Allow them to choose a varied diet. This will ensure that they are getting all of the essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals that their growing bodies need!
