Build A
Better Body
Families
Volume II - 2008
Creating a Healthy Eating
Environment
Have You Thought About …
A well planned meal with foods that contribute
to children’s well-being can be one of life’s greatest
pleasures. To make meal time count, create a
healthy food environment. What makes up a healthy
eating environment?
Best practices that make meals pleasant and
nutritious include:
•
Having a variety of foods available, such as
fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fresh
foods;
Have You Thought About …
How healthy is your family’s eating environment?
Do you:
•
•
•
•
•
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Positive conversation in a quiet setting; and
•
•
New foods introduced in a non-judgmental
atmosphere.
•
•
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These tips not only contribute to positive
memories, they model a lifestyle of healthy
living and eating.
Caregiver’s ‘Job’
• Make meal time pleasant.
• Help the children participate in the meal
by serving themselves and deciding how
much food to eat.
• Allow eating methods appropriate for a
child’s development.
• Kindly enforce a standard of behavior.
Children’s ‘Job’
• Eat until satisfied.
• Mind your manners.
• Respect others at the table.
These tips not only contribute to positive
memories, they model a lifestyle of
healthy living and eating.
•
Serve new foods at least once during the
week?
Serve fresh food at each meal or each day?
Serve at least two different colors of fruits
and vegetables each day?
Assess your dining area – is it free of clutter
and child–friendly?
Teach your children to use manners at the
table?
Sit with the children and engage them in
conversation?
Serve meals at regular times each day?
Turn off the TV during meal time?
Allow children to choose the amounts they
eat?
Avoid comforting or rewarding with food?
Remember children are learning skills, manners
and habits that influence the rest of their lives. You
play a vital role in helping your child feel good about
eating and trying new foods. Children need to learn
to eat a variety of foods to grow and stay healthy.
Since they form their eating habits early in life, we
hope this information will assist you to build a healthy
future.
Sources: National Food Service Management Institute, University of Mississippi
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. 6th Edition, Washington, D.C:
U.S. Government printing Office, January 2005.
Team Nutrition, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Berman and Fromer, Meals Without Squeals: Child Care Feeding Guide and
Cookbook, Palo Alto, CA.
Satter, How To Get Your Kid To Eat…But Not Too Much, Palo Alto, CA.
TIPS
Build A
Better Body
A healthy dinner
table is where:
All food is ready and at the
appropriate temperature.
Variety: Including dark green, orange and yellow
vegetables is important because they are sources
for phytochemicals, biologically active compounds
in plant foods believed to offer resistance to diseases.
When children are exposed to healthy foods early,
they are more likely to develop habits that support
healthy weight as they grow.
Pleasant environment: Avoid forcing children to
eat. Provide wholesome choices and allow them to
decide which food and how much.
Everyone sits down
together.
Make your table a welcoming, clean, clutter-free, child
friendly place where good manners are practiced.
The table is set properly
with child appropriate
utensils and napkins.
Everyone is polite, shares
in conversation and uses
manners.
Let children explore and enjoy foods. They may be
messy. Children should be able to touch, smell and
taste new foods without feeling pressured to clean
their plates.
Nonjudgmental atmosphere: Set meal time,
choose the foods offered and assure an inviting place
to eat. Encourage eating slowly, with enjoyment.
Allow children to stop when they are full; no clean
plate club members!
The wise caregiver offers comfort, not necessarily
food, when children cry or fuss. Feeding with love
produces better habits than feeding in an emotionally
negative climate.
NUTRITION TOOL!
Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Ingredients:
2 cups sweet potatoes
2 cups apples, chopped finely
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup oats
Method:
Mix all ingredients except oats together and place in a casserole dish.
Sprinkle oats on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender.
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