The sorts of foods that children love the most are the ones you find in brightly colored packages that say “buy me and make your child happy”. But these foods are usually the ones that are sugary, fatty and salty – or at the very least, harmless but no nutritional value. If your children gobble these foods all day, they can ruin their appetite ad cost you a fortune. And yet you don’t want to deny your children their pleasures. So you buy anyway, and in all honesty, you probably want some for yourself, too.
Then you put these foods out of sight, into the cupboard, fairly high up, so that the kids can’t get them and restricting the kids to access them.
Bad move! Restricting access to something can focus attention on it and make it more desirable and even more special.
Here are a couple of tips which might be useful to make your children eat healthy snack:
Banned foods help to create a desire for forbidden treats. Allow all foods but remember that some are healthier than others. Children need to learn that foods such as cakes, crisps, sweets and sugary drinks should be enjoyed occasionally.
Keep treats for parties or holidays, and only offer artificially sweetened or reduced-fat versions rather than a supersize full-sugar or full-fat version, in small portions.
