How can I get my child to eat healthy foods? Moms around the globe often ask the burning question, including me. There are days when our children will happily oblige by taking one bite of creamy broccoli, or any other vegetable or fruit, for that matter. Then there are days when getting them to eat any meal placed in front of them is like climbing Kilimanjaro blindfolded.

It can be exhausting, frustrating, and downright painful!

This is a paid partnership with Nestle – Nestlé for Healthier Kids

Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) is Nestle’s flagship programme to help caregivers make healthier nutritional choices for their children. Childhood obesity is becoming a global health concern, even in South Africa, it is escalating, with around 13% of children under 9 being overweight or obese and more than 50% of adults overweight or obese in South Africa. This programme is to help caregivers make healthier food choices for their children.

Nutrition Week in South Africa runs from the 9th to the 15th of October. It offers an opportunity to raise awareness that too many children do not make healthy food choices. Either because they lack the resources, or because their parents don’t encourage or support them in doing so. N4HK’s global ambition is to reach 50 million children by 2030, aN4HK’sp them live healthier lives.

How can we, as parents and caregivers, encourage our children to make healthier food choices?

1. Cook healthy food with our children

By involving our children in the cooking process, we encourage conversation about nutrition and healthy food choices. Here they will be able to experience new flavours, textures, sights and smells, and become more confident in their ability to choose and prepare healthy meals.

2. Use the right food language

As parents and caregivers, we must encourage our children to maintain a healthy, positive relationship with food. Instead of using terms like “good food choices” or “bad food choices,” we need to make it clearer that all food has a place. It’s OK to have a sweet treat or a fast-food burger now and then, but we need to balance our meals by choosing foods that are better for us and have higher nutritional value. (Healthy Food Choices)

3. Letting them participate from start to finish

Some children automatically think that healthier food tastes bad. By experimenting with new recipes and encouraging them to participate in the shopping process, we inadvertently train the brain to seek out foods rich in protein, omega-3s, vitamins, and similar nutrients. This process becomes an automaticroutinee. One that will (hopefully) become a habit.

4. Explaining what healthy foods are

Good food for a good mood. My one son is super hyperactive, and it’s been a long journey to teach him what foods are good for him and what foods spike his anxiety and mood. We use clear language and examples when encouraging him to eat the right foods. He’s aware now that a little sugar is OK, but if he has a little too much, he will begin to feel frustrated, and his mood will escalate in a direction that will only leave him feeling spent. He’s at the point now where he can say no thank you to extra treHe’s

5. Be the example

The sad reality is that children who grow up in homes where healthy food choices are not made spiral into the same pattern. Let’s be real, it isn’t always easy to put that soda down and pick up a glass of water or to leave that extra piece of pizza in the box and pick up fruit instead. But if we want our children to have a positive relationship with food, we need to lead by example. Healthy living has become a family affair, and together, we can raise children who will feel confident in who they are and the choices they make.

This Nutrition Week, I aim to be more mindful in educating my children about healthy food choices and empowering them even more to make these choices for themselves.

For more information on Nestlé for Healthier Kids –  Nurturing Together, add a little more goodness campaign, please visit their website.

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