It can be extremely difficult these days to find foods that kids are willing to eat. They love all the junk food they see advertised on T.V. Companies spend literally billions of dollars each year trying to entice our children to eat things that are not good for them and because kids don’t know any better, many of them fall prey to these advertising campaigns. Obviously it is fine to eat junk food every once in a while, but with companies barraging kids everyday with advertisements it becomes very difficult for them to avoid it. The result is a nation of obese children whose long term health is at risk. It does not take long to become obese and unhealthy when eating lots of junk food. Your kids can quickly get too heavy if they eat too much junk foot and staring heart disease and diabetes in the face. So how do you fight these eating habits?
Obviously you can’t attack the companies that make the junk food. Your next best options is to change your kid’s eating habits for good. This might also require that you change your own habits, as you kids will not change unless their parents do, too.
Look for tasty, healthy foods to replace the junk food. The single biggest reason for eating junk food is that we think it tastes good. If you can find healthy food that taste good a large part of your problem will be solved. So what types of healthy food actually taste good? The simple answer is fruit.
Fantastic Fruit Snacks
Provide a couple of fruit snacks for your kids everyday and you will see a quick change in their healthy and probably in their behavior. Many junk foods contain large amounts of sugar, meaning that they tend to alter the behavior of the kids who eat them. Here are five ideas for fruit snacks that I have found get the attention of kids:
1. Fruit smoothie. Kids love milkshakes and any other type of smoothie drink. Making smoothies at home is fun and easy. Just use a base fruit juice (something without lots of sugar) and add various fruits into a blender. I recommend strawberries, kiwis, bananas and raspberries. Chill the leftovers and serve them another time. Instead of drinking pop you will find your kids drinking tall glasses of blended fruit.
2. Bowl of fruit. Cut up bananas, kiwis and strawberries and mix them together in a bowl. Sprinkle a little sugar on top for flavor. These fruits are already quite sweet so don’t worry too much about sweetening.
3. Apple slices with cheese. I find that kids don’t always want to eat a whole apple, but if you slice it up for them they will eat a few slices. If you add a little low fat cheese they will eat as much as you give them.
4. Exotic fruit. Although you can only do this so many times, try introducing some exotic fruit, such as mango, pineapple and pomegranate. These fruits might be popular just because they are so unusual and out of the ordinary.
5. Berries. You will find that most kids have a favorite berry. Instead of a handful of potato chips, get your kids to start snacking on berries like candy. However, be cautious eating lots of berries, as they can cause digestion problems when eaten in large amounts.
These are just a few ideas for great fruity snacks. Talk with your kids about other good ideas for improving their diet. You will be surprised to find just how much they love fruit.
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