Eating healthy is undoubtedly an important aspect of leading an enriching life.

However, as parents, it might be challenging to know what to offer to our little ones in order to  give them a balanced and nutritious diet. Because, not only do their likes and dislikes change frequently, but they also have a variety of tastes. As your child gets older, they’ll start to form dietary patterns that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Encouragement of healthy choices is a wonderful approach to get children started on the path to creating lifelong healthy eating habits.

With your help, dear parents it’s possible, they can develop healthy eating habits. The importance of healthy eating is truly unparalleled. Instilling a love for nutritious food from a tender age makes a massive difference. Your little one won’t view vegetables as ‘punishment’, dessert won’t need to be a ‘reward’, and eating healthy surely won’t seem like a chore.

The easiest way to make them eat healthy food is to try to cook with the things they love to eat.

Here are some simple tips from which the parents can develop a healthy diet plan for their little toddlers to make them eat good + healthy food in order to develop healthy eating habits.

• Add more fruits to your little one’s diet.

But why only fruits you may ask ? Because fruits are full of nutrients, fiber, vitamins, minerals also it supports brain development. There are so many tricks and techniques but try always using creative forms of converting it into healthy ways. Fruits are one way to do this, and their colors make it more intriguing! Follow a rainbow diet, for instance, by giving blueberries on Monday if they say blue, and apples or plums on Tuesday if they say red. In this way, learning can be enjoyable and your child will pick up the habit of eating fruits. Fresh fruits keep kids energetic, healthy, and active throughout the day.

Most nutritious fruits are Berries, Bananas, Apples, and Oranges as they are packed with nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

• Encourage your child to eat slowly and drink more water.

Quick eating is not good for toddlers’ health as it used to raise the level of stress, also there is a fact that quick eating will give rise to more hunger. Whereas eating slowly helps in digestion, keeps your body hydrated, muscles energized and makes your kidneys work efficiently.  Drinking more water keeps you hydrated all day long and raises the level of energy, they will feel satisfied for a longer time!

• Don’t use food to punish or reward your children

When toddlers are misbehaving and parents use food as a punishment, their impressions of vegetables may be skewed. Example, if you punish your kid by making them eat broccoli because they did something wrong, they would come to associate the vegetable negatively. The same is true of desserts. Rewards should not come in the form of food, it can be anything else, like parents can show affection towards your toddler. Instead of punishing or rewarding, always try to give them a balanced meal which they will follow and get healthy nutrition food.

Here are a few other fun ways you can try to get your toddler to eat healthy.

• Use healthy substitutes- (E.g. Baked snacks instead of fried)

When our lovely toddlers hear healthy it sounds boring but this can be changed. We can make it interesting with the things they love to eat by adding flavours or try to cook with the things they love to eat so that it will be a mix match of both the things. Example- If your toddler loves Pizza, it can be cooked in the form of a Fruit Pizza (Big slice of watermelon, toppings with different fruits whichever your toddler loves to eat) If they love munchies, how about baking them instead of deep-frying? Because it’s all about eating well and being healthy is what benefits them in the long run.

• Involve your child in meal prep and grocery shopping.

Grocery shopping can be the most fun activity with your little toddlers. Always ask your children what they want to eat in the upcoming month before you go grocery shopping, and take them along with you.  You will be able to spend quality time with your children, there will be many opportunities where you can get to know your child more and it may result in you developing relationships with them.

• Make meal time positive and fun

The mealtime can be transformed into the happiest and most joyful hour of the day; it is when we strengthen our bonds with one another by conversing and responding to all of their queries. Food has the power to transform the dining room’s atmosphere and create a healthy one. Toddlers also enjoy their food more when it is tasty.