Sunday 11 January 2015

Healthy Eating Tips for Your Toddler!

Having a balanced diet with a good amount of fruit and vegetables can have numerous benefits for your little one and support their growth and development. Here are just some of the benefits:


  • The nutrients and vitamins found in fresh, healthy food support your child's brain and motor development
  • Eating a healthy and balanced diet from childhood can help prevent health issues such as diabetes, liver and heart disease later on in life
  • Healthy food means a healthy mouth! As long as your little one takes care of their teeth, healthy food can also protect the mouth from problems like cavities or gum disease.
  • The earlier healthy habits are formed, the more likely your child is to carry them on into adulthood.


However, it can often be a struggle to get your little one eating healthily. Here are some tips on ways to encourage healthy eating at home:

  • Give your little one a variety of healthy food, even if they are not foods that you like. They need to have a chance to develop their own opinions and habits.
  • Be a role model - the best way to encourage your child to eat healthily is to show them that you eat healthily too. Make it a healthy household :)
  • Family mealtimes are a great way to encourage healthy eating. They will encourage your child to sit down and eat, you can promote healthy eating and good habits and it also gives you all some much needed family time. Also, keep the mealtimes fun and enjoyable so your little one looks forward to them.
  • Don't insist they finish their plate - although it may have been the 'norm' when you were little, forcing children to finish all there food has been shown to have many negative effects, promoting negative associations with mealtimes and your child will not learn the trigger to stop eating as they will be used to eating through that 'full feeling'. 
If your little one is not a fan of trying new foods, the following tips may help:
  • Try giving them a new item of food with one of their favourites, this way they are more likely to try it.
  • Don't worry if they don't like something the first time, it can take take several tries of tasting something for your little one to decide they like it.
  • Stay relaxed - if you are anxious about what they are eating, they will feel that anxiety too so try and make a conscious effort to keep mealtimes relaxed and fun.

For more information and ideas, check out our Facebook page

See you soon!







Katie is an Early Years specialist in Dubai, where she 
manages an EYFS nursery. She has a special interest 
in psychology and early childhood development. 

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