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Healthy Eating

Choosing fruits over cookies can help prevent childhood obesity.

Young kids can, of course, be picky eaters. And they often assert their independence through eating, or not eating, what they're offered.

So it’s easier to serve foods you know they will like and actually eat, without all of the meltdowns and frowns. But what’s easiest isn’t always what’s best.

Food preferences develop at an early age, even in infancy.

As a child care provider, you have a powerful opportunity to teach kids’ taste buds to appreciate wholesome foods — before they can learn differently. And with a little patience, even the fussiest young diners can learn to like healthy foods.

Encouraging Healthy Eaters

Try these strategies to convert those tight-lipped mouths into smiles:

 
Mix it up — serve a variety of nutritious choices.
Serve a variety of healthy snacks for kids.

Most kids will gladly eat their favorite fare like hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, French fries, and chicken nuggets at every meal. But these foods are filled with unhealthy fats and don’t provide the proper nutrients.

Plus, offering the same foods day in and day out doesn’t expose children to new tastes and textures or the opportunity to learn about other food flavors and choices.

 
Opt for healthier alternatives.

Try offering these wholesome snack options in place of traditionally less-nutritious snacks that kids often crave:

View a list of healthy snack options for kids.

 
Let children participate in preparing food, if possible.
Let kids participate in preparing healthy meals and snacks.

When kids have a hand in helping to make their own foods, they’re more likely to try and eat new, nutritious things. Giving them special jobs (like stirring and adding ingredients) makes them feel like helpful "big boys" and "big girls" and proud of what they created.

Try some of these kid-friendly recipes from Nemours' KidsHealth.org:

 
Have kids create their snacks.
Have kids create their own healthy snacks.
  • ants on a log (celery topped with peanut butter and raisin "ants")
  • egg boats (hard-boiled egg wedges topped with a cheese sail)
  • veggie faces (like cucumber eyes, tomato nose, green bean mouth, and shredded carrot hair)
  • friendship fruit salad (every child brings in a whole or cut-up fruit and it all gets mixed together)
 
Do the dip.

Toddlers and preschoolers love dipping, so try serving veggies with yogurt, hummus, low-fat dressing, or low-fat melted cheese.

 
Learn about how food grows.

Take a field trip to the local farmers’ market or pick-your-own-farm. Or grow a garden with the kids to talk about where food comes from and to pique their interest in trying the new produce they see.

Get ideas from Grow It, Try It, Like It! Preschool Fun With Fruits and Vegetables — a garden-themed nutrition education kit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Team Nutrition.

 
Don’t use food as a reward or punishment.

Avoid forcing children to finish the “healthy foods” to get to their dessert or sweets. That can just make the healthy food seem like punishment and force kids to eat when they’re already full.

Check out these Alternatives to Using Food as a Reward.

 
Talk about “sometime” vs. “anytime” foods.

Instead of expecting young children to understand the do’s and don’t’s of nutrition, it can help to talk about “sometime” and “anytime” foods.

So “sometime” foods are snacks and meals that are OK for kids to
have only occasionally:

  • cookies
  • cakes
  • candy
  • ice cream
  • chips
  • processed meats (like hot dogs, bologna and others)

And “anytime” foods are much healthier options kids can enjoy
plenty of whenever:

Anytime foods, like fruit, should be a routine healthy snack for kids.
  • fruits
  • vegetables
  • whole grains
  • low-fat dairy products
  • healthy proteins (like beans, chicken, fish)

Help the kids learn all about "sometime" and "anytime" foods with the Healthy Habits for Life Resource Kit. Created by Sesame Workshop and Let's Move! Child Care partners Nemours and Nemours' KidsHealth.org, this guide (available in English and Spanish) teaches child care providers and children concepts of nutrition and physical fitness using kids' favorite Sesame Street puppet friends.

 
Reinforce nutrition messages with classroom activities.

Tools & Resources

Useful Ideas & Guides:

From Nemours and Nemours' KidsHealth.org:

Helpful Videos:

» View Our Resource Center

Serve healthy meals and snacks for kids.

Try to:

  • Serve fruits and veggies at every meal.
  • Eat meals family-style and let kids choose.
  • Steer clear of all fried foods.

 

Parties are still fun with healthy snacks for kids.

Make parties festive but healthy:

  • Put the emphasis on fun activities, not food.
  • Encourage parents to bring in nutritious alternatives.

  • Positive Reward Options