Teach Healthy Eating Habits By Example

I firmly believe in the parenting concept of “Teaching by Example" and "Walk the Talk." Sure, we all want our kids to grow up as responsible, respectable, smart, and healthy kids. That's why we do everything we can to teach them about following rules, getting into the habit of reading or eating healthily. By doing everything, that means, not just teaching by words, but teaching by showing them that as parents we do these things. Parents definitely play a big part in the overall development of young children.

We can't teach children to love reading if they don't see us reading. We can't teach children to follow rules when they see their parents beat the red light on the road. And definitely we can't teach children healthy eating habits if they see us enjoy junk food very often. When I was growing up, my dad, who is now 76 years old, makes sure he eats balanced food daily. He cannot live a day without fruits and vegetables. I guess that's the reason why he's still healthy at age 76. I learned how to love to eat fruits because of him. This love for fruits I was able to pass on to my kids.

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Instead of junk foods, we make healthy snacks out of fruits by being creative. There are many available simple and easy-to-do recipes you may find in books and online. We love dipping fruits in chocolate or caramel. We also like making smoothies or shakes out of these fruits. It's easy when we're at home but the challenge comes when they are in school or out with friends. Preparing fruits as their baon (imagine buying, peeling, slicing, and packing) may be a bit inconvenient. Good thing, there are available packed fruits in the market, such as canned pineapples which I could just buy for them and let them bring to school as their snacks.

Not only I pack them delicious snacks, it's also packed with nutrients including vitamin B6 for energy, manganese for the formation of connective tissues and bones, fiber for healthy bowel movement, and vitamin C for better immunity. In a study conducted by Dr. Leonora Panlasigui of the Philippine Women’s University’s School of Nutrition, adding two servings of Del Monte Pineapples to the daily diet of her young participants greatly improved each child's overall immunity.

I've always believed that it's better to boost a child's immune system naturally, by consuming fruits daily such as pineapple. If children ate two servings of pineapple a day, the production of granulocytes increases by 27 percent, according to a study. Granulocytes, is a type of white blood cell vital to combating diseases, important in faster recovery time from bacterial and viral infections.

With this very simple and practical way of teaching kids to have a healthy eating habit, we are assured that even when they are away from home, they will always make the right food choices. Healthy food choices mean that they could do more, experience more, and achieve more which are all vital for their over-all child development.

Louise Antonette

Hi, I'm Louise Fandiño Santos, a wife, a mom of all boys and a campaigns strategist by profession. My family, singing, flowers, chocolates, coffee, and traveling make me happy. I passionately blog about pretty and practical things and choices concerning motherhood, relationships, food, travel, events, and shopping. MORE?