Nutrition Tips for Kids — Nurturing Characters

photo credit: Kelly Sikkema

I teamed up again with Becky Blixrud to talk about nutrition tips for kids and the whole family.

As a Certified Health Coach, Becky has the blessing of working with parents who are not only making lifestyle changes for themselves but for their kids as well. Becky says, “many people have sited wanting to be a better example for their children, and not wanting their kids to fall into the same unhealthy habits that they have been stuck in for decades.”

Some questions parents often ask during health coaching with Becky are:

“I want the whole family to start eating healthier - Where do I start?”
“How do I know if I’m feeding my kids ‘the right’ foods?”
“How do I get my little ones to try new foods and be open to eating a wider variety, especially more vegetables?”

Becky tackled answers to these three questions below based on her professional and personal experience.

*Krystin Henley will be interposing her two cents throughout the article labeled as Krystin’s Family Tips based on a personal, therapeutic standpoint.

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1) “I want the whole family to start eating healthier - Where do I start?”

- Focus on boosting fresh, whole foods - Did it come from a farm? The ground, a tree, plant or vine? If you can answer YES, then these are likely great choices!

- Start with what you’re already doing RIGHT and do more of it! Do you already cut up fresh fruit periodically for a snack? That’s perfect - just do it more often.

- Add a new fruit or veggie to your grocery list this week. Choose produce you have enjoyed in the past but don’t cook often, or are seasonally available. Squash, eggplant, and zucchini are all great options.

- Keep it Simple - Including more veggies into meals doesn’t have to come with complicated cooking techniques. Chopping up a plate of raw, fresh veggies (cucumber, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and carrots) to add to dinner can help the whole family include more nutrition into their meals.

- Keep it Fast - Buying frozen bags of mixed veggies are great ways to save time and also boost nutrition in meals. Although more expensive, buying a tray of pre-chopped veggies or fruit can often mean the difference between eating fresh food or not… so don’t feel guilty for not washing, peeling, and chopping!

- STOP aiming for perfection - Just aim for small, realistic, tangible changes that can become a sustainable part of your routine. I.e. Buying whole oranges instead of orange juice at the store.

Krystin’s Family Tip: Try to keep a shelf in your pantry stocked with “healthier” kid-friendly snack items such as: apple sauces, popcorn, nuts, dried apples, fig bars, etc. You’ll always have feel-good, healthy options when you need something quick for the road or when your child finds you closet-snacking.

- STOP talking about foods as “bad” for you - Use works like “more or less nourishing”. You don’t want kids to think they are bad if they eat things that are “bad”. We want children to understand foods all have different nutritional value, and some foods serve us in different ways, rather than just being “good” or “bad”.

Krystin’s Family Tip: Talk about why it is a healthier option. For example: Our family loves garlic and onions in our meals. Of course I try to not burn their little mouths by overdoing the flavor but when possible I talk about how good those foods are for us and how they can “KICK our colds away!” (while throwing a little kick in the air). “Avocados give our bodies a healthy fat so we can grow strong!” (pumping my bicep in the air) etc. Include your child in the research process to see what is nutritious about the new food they are trying.

2) “How do I know if I’m feeding my kids ‘the right’ foods?”

There’s a LOT of confusing nutrition advice floating around right now, and diet culture is not helping. My rule of thumb for feeding both children and adults are as follows:

- Keep Nutrition High - Make sure at least 80% of food choices are plants (fruits, veggies, whole grains, seeds, nuts and legumes), and the majority of those foods are whole-foods as grown (unprocessed) choices. This means a lot of avocados, bananas, apples, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, spinach, pecans, chia seeds, lentils, rice, quinoa and other simple foods are often the basis of the meals I recommend.

- Keep Refined Sugars Low - It’s natural to want to enjoy sweet foods, but enjoying them in moderation is key, especially for kids. The bulk of sweet foods we enjoy can easily come from fruit if make some easy swaps (fruit instead of ice cream or homemade cookies instead of store-bought). Start with simple choices - do you normally buy soda or fruit juice? Swap it for water flavored with fresh lemon and mint.

- Eat the Rainbow - Not sure if you’re feeding your kids a wide range of nutrients? Take stock of the number of colors you feed them in a week. Eating a variety of food is just as important as eating nutritious foods. Greens, blues and reds are colors we definitely want most as they contain the widest depth of nutrients.

- You Choose WHAT, Your Child Chooses HOW MUCH - Providing your child with nutrition-packed options is your job, and they will intuitively know how much or little they need. Keep in mind that if they are used to fast-food or sugary meals, it may take them time to adjust to eating more plant-focused meals. Making a big batch of vegan cheese or hummus to allow them to dip their veggies may help them ingest more veggies. Making sure they have a high-quality protein, carbohydrate, and fat available at each meal is great foundation for allowing them to intuitively choose the quantity that is right for them (i.e. chickpea noodles, no-sugar pasta sauce, fresh cucumber and chunks of avocado). See Krystin’s nut sprinkle tutorial as an example of what she adds to her family’s meals.

Krystin’s Family Tip: Don’t force but do reward - In our family we serve our kids portions we think they can handle. If they are struggling to eat a particular food during the meal, I remind them to take just 1 or 3 bites of it before having more of what they love from the meal (bread, carbs, protein option or their fav. vitamin gummies they enjoy). I always try not to set the bar too high for finishing. If they are gagging over it, don’t push it. Ask them to eat something else on their plate instead.

*Do your best to avoid making a whole separate meal for your child. You are not a restaurant and definitely don’t want your child to learn to demand whatever he/she wants. Of course make some exceptions when necessary. Use your gut and don’t make a habit of it.

3) “How do I get my little ones to try new foods and be open to eating a wider variety, especially more vegetables?”

- Model for them - When incorporating a new fruit or veggie to your meals, make a point of ensuring the kids see you eating it, as they’re far more likely to try it. They may need numerous exposures to a new food before actually trying it.

Krystin’s Family Tip: When you introduce a new food item try it all together as a family. Make it fun by counting “1… 2… 3… GO!!!” Chew it together. Ask them questions like “what does it taste like? Is it crunchy or soft?” etc. Model for them swallowing it even if you don’t like it. In our home we like to practice saying “it’s not my favorite” rather than “I don’t like it” or “Yuck. Gross!” Don’t be afraid to express that you don’t really like it. You can teach them to say, “it’s not my favorite but I can handle it. I can eat it this time because it won’t hurt me and it’s so healthy for me.”

Don’t force your kids to swallow it. Just make sure they taste it. Kids tend to be “all or nothing” thinkers. I encourage my kids to take one bite then think about it before deciding if they like it or not. Watch this clip with my kids as an example.

One study says that it could take 5-10 exposures of a new food for a child to acquire a taste for it. Click here for more.

- Speaking of Exposures… Don’t be afraid to let them touch it, smell it, and play with new foods - kids (like adults) use all their senses to experience food and often taste is the last sense they use to check a new food out. Don’t be discouraged if it takes numerous exposures of one food before they show interest in tasting it.

Krystin’s Family Tip: Include your kids in the kitchen. Let them help you wash, sort, chop (safely) the food you are preparing for the meal. My girls do this on a regular basis. Most of the time I have them wait until their meal but sometimes I let them munch on a raw green bean, pepper or cucumber as I’m prepping. They are so hungry that they often ask for more and are happy to munch them down. If you have time, have them start with an appetizer plate of veggies as you are wrapping up meal preparations.

*Note: Don’t be alarmed if your kids all of a sudden don’t like the veggie they 'loved and couldn’t get enough of one week ago. Stay calm, know that this is normal and it will probably change again next week.

- Blended soups and sauces - you can include a huge variety of lentils, veggies and herbs into a soup and as kids often are put off by eating a bunch of foods all mixed together, use a blender (or hand immersion blender if available) to make the soup a uniform texture and taste. Same goes for pasta sauce - you can take a basic bought sauce and load it up with extra carrots, zucchini or mushrooms. Just blend it up so it’s smooth - might be a much easier way to get the food down the hatch!

- Buy a variety of noodles - There are lentil noodles, gluten-free noodles made from a blend of ancient grains, regular wheat noodles and more. Kids love noodles and mixing up the type of noodles can help ensure they are getting a variety of nutrients. I love checking out Costco because they often have red lentil pasta and a couple other kinds that have less than five ingredients listed on the label, and are all great enjoyed with regular pasta sauce!

- Make smoothies! Green smoothies are an incredible way to get your kids to consume all sorts of veggies and fruit. Start with using lots of fruit and a small amount of spinach (or other greens) to ensure the taste of the greens is fully masked. Every time you make it, increase the amount of greens. Check out Becky’s “Shrek” smoothies here.

Krystin’s Family Tip: Grow a small garden together and have the kids help! It doesn’t have to be a big garden. Start with some easy-to-grow plants such as cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs in some containers on your patio. My girls don’t always love tomatoes but they will raid our tomato plants in a flash. It’s so fun to watch their amazement over plants growing and they seem to be delighted in the ownership of it. I find they are more likely to try what they worked so hard to grow. Just today my three year old asked if she could ripe off and eat some kale. “OF COURSE HUNNY!” She did. She never eats kale!

In summary, don’t be afraid to try new produce, experiment and definitely have fun exploring new foods with your family. Remember progress is the goal, not perfection!

Xo, Becky

Thank you for helping answer these big questions Becky!

Becky Blixrud is the owner of Blixrud Health Coaching and a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach.
Her 7 Keys to Nourishment Program gives women the tools to nourish their individual bodies for energy, strength and joy. Becky loves working 1 on 1 with clients as well as teaching community and corporate workshops. She is based in British Columbia, Canada but loves to work with both Canadians and Americans.

For years Becky struggled with digestive issues, food sensitivities, and challenges around anxiety and stress. Through a series of modifications to what she eats and lifestyle, she's made great progress in how she feels, both physically and mentally. Becky learned that achieving a healthy body and mind does not have to be complicated and starts with “eating the rainbow”!

If you’re interested in more health coaching info or want to try a Complimentary Coaching Session, find her here at blixrudhealthcoaching.com

Subscribe to the NOURISH Community Newsletter to learn about upcoming workshops and offerings by emailing becky.blixrud@gmail.com

**Family Tips provided by: Krystin Henley, Owner of nurturingcharacters.com