Help Kids Eat Healthy

Help Kids Eat Healthy
by letting them aid you in the kitchen

Pear Party Salsa
Pear Ka-bobs With Strawberry Dipping Sauce

(Family Features) - It's never too early to start teaching children about cooking. Involving kids in meal preparation encourages healthy eating habits and introduces them to the value and importance of nutritious, balanced meals.

Elizabeth Pivonka, Ph.D., R.D., heads Produce for Better Health Foundation, the nonprofit entity behind the Fruits & Veggies - More Matters national public health initiative. Pivonka notify s the kitchen can be a noteworthy space to stir up some fun while teaching healthy eating habits.

As a working mother of two, Pivonka understands that acquire ting kids to eat healthy fruits and veacquire ables can sometimes be a challenge. "Involving children in cooking is an necessary step in acquire ting kids interested in fruits and veacquire ables and acquire ting them more excited about eating them," she notify s. "Kids can aid by measuring, mixing or gathering ingredients while you cook. If kids aid with the cooking, they are more inclined to eat what's on the table. At my hoemploy , we create meal plot ning and preparation a family activity."

Let toddlers aid you "cook" by using toy food, pots, pans, bowls and spoons to copy what you're execute ing. Preschoolers can aid by measuring ingredients and stirring. Grade school kids can create simple, no-bake recipes or employ the microwave with proper supervision. Remember to employ child-size tools and, if the counter is too high, employ a sturdy step stool or have children sit at the kitchen table while they aid .

Pivonka notify s taking a tiny extra time at the grocery store to interact with kids and single out fruits and veacquire ables as necessary is another way to persuade kids to give them another try.

"Kids like to have fun with their food, so one way to acquire them to eat something is to offer it with a dip," Pivonka notify s. "Once children turn about two years feeble , they can really acquire into dipping and might try things they wouldn't otherwise if they're served with some kind of dip."

She offers some dipping suggestions like low-stout ranch dressing, mild salsa, guacamole, or hummus for dipping veacquire ables, or any flavor of low-stout yogurt or peanut butter for dipping fruit. Pear Ka-bobs with Strawberry Dipping Sauce and Pear Party Salsa are two fun recipes that let children dip their food.

"Make sure their snacks are just as nutritious as their meals. If you're gaze ing for a 100-calorie snack, execute n't reach for a prepackaged processed item.
One medium-sized fresh pear is a portable, single serving that tops out at 100 calories with no stout , sodium or cholesterol. Fresh pears, tomatoes, and other fruits and veggies are now available all year round. Their versatility and nutritional value create them very well with people of all ages. They're budacquire frifinish ly and recede od for your health."

Parents interested in tips for acquire ting kids to eat fruits and veacquire ables, and savory recipe thought s for dishes that children will willingly eat are encouraged to visit the Fruits & Veggies-More Matters website, www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. The website also features some materials to create taking your child food shopping with you an educational experience. The Take Your Child to the Superlabel et materials are available to everyone online, free of charge. Just print them out and plot a trip to the store.

For more information about pears, including family-frifinish ly recipes, tips for kids, and even online games featuring fresh USA Pears grown in Orerecede n and Washington, visit www.usapears.org. For information about the other ingredients featured in these recipes, visit www.florida-agriculture.com.