Children can be notoriously picky eaters, and getting them to eat healthy is a challenge for their parents, let alone the nanny. However, there are a few ways you can encourage healthy eating with your charges. Mixing in fruit and vegetables is important, and can make excellent snacks during the day if you pick the right foods that appeal to them.
Below are a few suggestions for helping children choose healthy snacks over cookies:
Offer fresh fruit – Most children love fresh fruit, so offering an orange, berries or an apple paired with a vegetable, like carrots, can help encourage them to eat both and get plenty of vitamins and minerals from a healthier snack.
Mix treats with less-preferred foods – Another option for particularly picky eaters is to mix in healthier items with less-healthy ones. Trail mix, with nuts and raisins mixed in with chocolate, is one way to encourage this. Another is to offer carrots and celery with peanut butter. They might not like the healthy options on their own, but will eat them when provided with a treat to go with it.
Stick with what they like – Once you find vegetables and other healthier items that your charge enjoys, stock up. While their tastes might change eventually it helps to utilize known preferences and maximize their intake of healthy items. When they start saying they dislike avocados or another healthy treat down the road, switch it up and come back to that item again a few weeks later to see if they changed their mind.
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