With healthy eating becoming more popular, as a parent you may be striving to add “whole foods” to your kid’s diet. What does “whole foods” mean exactly? This means foods in their natural state, with no or minimal processing. An apple is a whole food, but apple juice is not. A chicken breast is a whole food, but a chicken nugget is not.
If you’ve read our blog article “Is it Okay to Feed My Kids Processed Foods?”, you know that choosing more whole foods (and less processed foods) can have many health benefits. Some of these benefits include eating less salt, sugar, trans fat, and calories, and more fiber, vitamins, and minerals. This type of change in a diet can have long-lasting health benefits for your growing child.
Here are 6 ways to add whole foods to your kid’s diet:
- Serve a new veggie side with dinner. Make a side salad and let your kids pick their dressing. Cut up some cucumber and serve it with a yogurt-and-herb dip, or roast a seasonal veggie like sweet potato or asparagus.
- Once a week, swap out a processed food for something you make yourself. Make “chicken nuggets” from boneless chicken breasts, or make muffins for breakfast instead of toaster pastries.
- Instead of juice at snack-time, send your child to school with water and a piece of fruit (a peeled clementine, apple slices, or blueberries and raspberries).
- If your family savors dessert like cookies or ice cream, serve a fruit salad instead. Too time-consuming? Most grocery stores have pre-cut fruit that you can mix and match to make a dessert your family will love!
- Instead of goldfish crackers for snack, offer apple slices with peanut or almond butter, or veggies with hummus.
- Breakfast time can be frantic and we often rely on processed foods that are high in sugar because they are fast and easy. Instead, try a hard-boiled egg and piece of fruit (save time in the morning and make the eggs the night before), a smoothie with plain Greek yogurt, milk, and your child’s favorite frozen fruit. Or serve oatmeal made with old-fashioned oats, diced apple, cinnamon, and almonds or walnuts for some crunch (save time with overnight, no cook refrigerator oatmeal).
Transitioning your kids from less processed foods to more whole foods will make them healthier now AND teach them to make healthy food choices for their entire lives. Tackle one of these tips every week to make everyone in your family a little bit healthier!
Do you have more tips on how to add whole foods to your kid’s diet? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below!