Good nutrition doesn't have to be complicated – for most children, and parents too! it boils down to eating more fruit & veg and eating less junk food. By encouraging good eating habits in our children from an early age we can help to prevent health problems in later life, such as:
- Overweight and obesity
- Heart disease & stroke
- Type 2 diabetes
- Certain cancers
You might think that these illnesses strike later in life – and you’d be right – but they take a lifetime to develop and have their roots in childhood. By helping our kids to eat right from an early age, we can help them to avoid these illnesses in the future. It is up to you as a parent to help your children get the healthy diet, as they don't have the capability of making the correct decision when it comes to health eating. Children follow trends and what their friends are having, so start your children trending fresh fruit and vegetables now! Eat More Fruit & Veg Eating fruit and vegetables every day is vital for good health. Worryingly, most children (and most adults!) do not eat enough of these essential foods. Reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reckon that up to 2.7 million lives worldwide could be saved every year if we simply ate more fruit and vegetables. Experts recommend that we eat 5-10 portions of fruit and vegetables per day – where a portion is roughly a handful. So in the case of a small child, a small apple or a handful of chopped carrots would count as a single portion. Remember that the recommendation “eat 5 servings of fruit or vegetables every day” is a minimum – 5 pieces per day is not the target, it is the minimum that you need for long term health!
So start getting the health eating habit into your child from as early an age as possible. And encourage cooking and baking with your children; this will help them gain more knowledge of foods and health, and will help them try more variety of foods. Healthy foods can be tasty foods!
