Considering our nation as a whole is generally overweight and unhealthy, it is extremely important to teach children at a young age about healthy eating habits.
As child care providers, it is our responsibility to provide the most nutritious foods during meals and snacks to develop those healthy eating habits.
There are many resources that provide information about the proper way to achieve optimal nutrition for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Be sure to spend some time researching this information about nutrition as well as consulting a medical doctor.
Some sites of interest include: American Heart and NNCC Nutrition.
Once you have an idea of what foods are considered healthy, you will want to develop some menus for meals and snacks that are packed with nutrition.
When planning these menus, consider offering children a wide variety of foods so that they have an opportunity to sample all the delicious fruits, vegetables, and whole grain items available.
To help maintain that variety and keep the meals from repeating, plan a couple of weeks worth of meals at a time.
Also, children respond to color, so really mix it up at mealtime.
Fortunately, nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables are full of color which makes them particularly appealing to children.
Be sure to offer a variety of foods with different textures.
Children love foods that are crunchy, smooth, and chewy.
It makes it interesting.
Keep in mind that children typically do not like their foods to touch on the plate (I know because I have one of those picky eaters), so try to arrange the foods in a way that they do not touch.
If at all possible, try to offer a choice between 2 fruits and 2 vegetables.
Older toddlers and preschoolers appreciate having the opportunity to make their own selections.
Finally, offer foods that are easy for children to eat independently.
If foods are difficult to eat or require too much help from an adult, children become frustrated and leave the food behind on the plate, wasted and uneaten.
Children need to be taught to respect and appreciate the nutritious meals they are given.
Never force a child to eat something he or she does not like or does not want, but, at the same time, do not allow the child to throw the food around and be disrespectful.
There are plenty of hungry children in our world that would gladly eat the food.
I think it is important for children to understand that it is a privilege to be provided a healthy, nutritious meal because many children are not so fortunate.
If a meal is turned away, that is acceptable; however, it can be done respectfully with a simple "No, Thank You.
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