How to Teach Healthy Eating Habits

How you teach healthy eating habits depends on the age of the child. You can encourage teenagers to actively participate in their food choices by providing nutritional reading material and opportunities to apply their food knowledge--like cooking a healthy family meal. Young children learn best by repetition. Teach young children about food and healthy eating habits every day to instill nutritional basics. No matter what the child's age, all children learn by example, so the best model for making nutritionally sound food choices and good eating habits is you.

Instructions

How to Teach Healthy Eating Habits to Teenagers

• 1

  Teach your children about the food pyramid.

  Print out the Canadian Food Guide or the American Dietary Guidelines. Read the guide to refresh your dietary knowledge. Pass the guide along to your teenager for reading and studying purposes. Sit down with your teenager to go over the nutritional information in the food guide.

• 2

  Have your teenager prepare a grocery list for meals for an entire day. Talk to your teenager and advise them to consider how much food they need from each food group to eat three nutritionally sound meals a day, plus snacks. Have your teenager use the food guide as a resource to prepare the grocery list.

• 3

  A grocery store is the perfect place to teach nutritional basics.

  Take your teenager grocery shopping. Have them look at the labels of available goods to monitor the salt and sugar content and ingredients. Allow your teenager to make their own food choices to aid in their nutritional education. Guide your teenager with nutritional advice as you peruse the grocery store.

• 4

  You are the best person to model healthy eating habits.

  Watch what you eat and practice good personal nutrition. Children learn by example, so it is imperative that you also have good eating habits and that you choose healthy and wholesome meals for your teenager to use as a nutritional model.

• 5

  Always sit down to eat as a family where possible.

  Educate your teenager in good eating habits by sitting down to eat together. Teach them to eat only when they are hungry, to eat slowly, and to stop eating when they are full. Let them know that when you listen to your "full" signals it will help you decrease excess calorie consumption and enable the body to balance energy resources and limit body fat storing.

How to Teach Healthy Eating Habits to Small Children

• 6

  Provide a variety of healthy snacks for your children to choose from.

  Have a variety of healthy snacks available for your young child to choose from. Variety is the spice of life and if you always serve carrots, your child will eventually begin to dislike them. Serve a variety of vegetables or fruits for your child to choose from.

• 7

  Refrain from negative behavior at the table during meal time.

  Eat your meals together as a family in a calm and positive atmosphere. Don't let your young child eat while watching television. Eating meals at a table will enforce healthy eating habits. Allow your child enough time to finish their food. Most children eat slowly--and this is a good thing for digestion and reducing overeating--so don't pressure young children to eat at a fast pace.

• 8

  Children love to cook.

  Teach an older child about the food pyramid and have them help you cook healthy meals. Young children are eager to help in the kitchen.

• 9

  Your child will respond positively to your praise.

  Praise your child to reinforce healthy food choices. For example, "Wow! You did a great job choosing a healthy snack."

• 10

  Let children become actively involved in what they eat.

  Take your child to the grocery store and have them pick out healthy snacks. Your child will be more likely to develop nutritionally sound habits if they have an active choice in what they want to eat.

• 11

  Children can use the computer to learn about healthy eating habits and nutrition.

  Use your computer to teach nutrition basics to older children. There are many websites available that teach nutritional concepts to children using fun online games and puzzles.