Fit Or Fat: Nutrition and Exercise

Picky Eaters: Getting Kids To Eat Well

Posting Date: 06/11/2001

Is it as tough as pulling teeth to get your kids to eat healthy meals? Would they rather eat Cheez-its, chips and cookies all day?

Maybe it?s time for a food makeover for you and your kids. After all, you are their number one role model. It?s up to you to set the stage by eating well yourself and keeping your pantry full of healthful foods. But your job can be made easier with a few helpful tips.

We polled the editorial staff at HealthCentral.com to see how they get their kids eating healthfully. Here is what they have to say:

Make food fun, tasty and easy:

• Dress up a salad by adding mini oranges, nuts, cheese, and cut up meats or any treat they might like
  
• Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes or food coloring to brighten things up a bit
  
• Pre-cut fruit and have it ready in the fridge
  
• Make homemade Popsicles
  
• Dress up the usual: add a little sugar to strawberries, a little peanut butter on carrot or celery sticks, a little homemade mayonnaise (olive oil, vinegar, mustard and an egg) on the broccoli -- something yummy on the icky thing
  
• Make a smoothie ? a yummy fruit drink ? with fruit, yogurt, apple juice and ice
  
• Make the family?s favorite cookies with your child -- homemade chocolate chip cookies and milk is healthier than so many of the treats from the store with a soda
  
• Fruit kabobs are a fun way to encourage your child to eat a variety of fruits.

• For boys, reminding them that fruits and vegetables are quite instrumental in the overall process of building muscle and lengthening bone can work wonders.

• For girls, reminding them that milk and protein help their hair and fingernails grow strong as well as their bones can have a significant impact in their willingness to drink up the rest of their milk.

• Mix beans into spaghetti, casseroles or meat dishes
  
• Chop up squash, tomatoes or corn into a burrito
  
• Mix in a little bit of spinach with other salad greens

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