Tips on healthy eating from parents

Here are some tips we received from others parents when we asked them how to encourage their children to eat healthily...

• "If you have transport, try to buy a sack of fresh potatoes from a farm. I bought 25 kilos for £6. They can last about 6 months if you keep them in a dark cold place."



• "If you can why not grow your own vegetables? Veg sold in the supermarket are far too expensive. Even if you live in a flat, if you have a balcony that gets the sun for some of the day, purchase a grow bag, and plant lettuces in it that you have grown from seed. Pick a few leaves each time you prepare a meal, the same with tomatoes and many other veg."



• "Get your children to handle and prepare food. Take them to buy and choose it, and get them involved in the whole process of food preparation. Don’t let food be a mystery."



• "If you are on an extremely tight budget, jacket potatoes are an excellent healthy food source if you can persuade your children to eat them. An ideal filling might be leftover bolognaise sauce, or curry from the day before."



• "I think it is very important that children eat healthily. However, it is also important that parents aren't made to feel guilty for giving their child the odd treat."



• "We always eat our main meal of the day as a family sitting at the dining table. This started when the children were old enough to sit in the high chair next to everyone."



• "Planning ahead is the key, when you leave it to the last minute you can end up relying on convenience foods."



• "My children have all had picky phases and grown out of them, so don't stress out too much just keep at it."



• "Don't disguise your children's food. It is important that they learn the different flavours they are eating. Use it as a discussion - how does the food grow? What country / animal does it come from? Children love to feel involved. Give them choices, but not too many!"



• "Cut up colourful vegetables into small pieces. let them add things to pasta on top of sauce like the grated cheese; use noodles like hair on a face! Get them to help make food as they are more likely to eat it! "



• "I’m trying to give my kids more fruit so I’m now going to buy a blender to make fruit smoothies; it’s cheaper than buying them and they’re fresher."



• "You can hide fresh fruit and veg in so many dishes it is worth giving it a try, you will notice a difference in your child. I am not a health worker I am a single mum of four so if I can do it everyone can."



• "Please, please encourage your children to eat healthily from the day they are weaned! And keep it up because it's so much harder the older they get."



• "The only advice I have was given to me by a health worker when my son was a baby: food is wrapped up with our ideas of love - it's sometimes difficult to separate the two. If your child uses food as a 'weapon', try to ignore it - they won't starve themselves. Don't use it as a bargaining tool. Give them some choice and don't go overboard if they don't manage to eat everything they are given."



• "Give them what they like, as well as trying to introduce new things whilst they're very young and their palate is developing. Also disguise veg in food if they're funny with it, and try not to over-sweeten food to make it more appealing, it will be a nightmare trying to get them to revert back to doing without it as they get older! Most of all don't worry - children will eat if they're hungry and will eat what you give them - as long as you praise them for trying and occasionally bribe them with after-dinner treats!"



• "Try to occasionally keep putting a little of whatever it is your child says ‘they don't like’ on their plate. My two are quite good at trying something in order to confirm they still don't like it and a couple of times have eaten things by accident and decided they do like it after all!"



• "We make our food together and we like things like pasta and soup. We make up names for them like ‘red and green soup’ and ‘mix-up ham pasta’. We make it fun and we all sit and eat together. My kids eat really well and that makes me feel good and like I’m a good mum."