Developing healthy eating habits

Good food and healthy eating habits are essential elements for a happy life, so it is vital that you provide your child with these from the very beginning of their introduction to family meals

Extract taken from Feeding Made Easy by Gina Ford

As children are growing and developing faster than they will at any other time of their lives, it is vital that their nutritional requirements are satisfied. These days there is so much conflicting advice about what constitutes a healthy diet and such an abundance of 'ready-meals' claiming to be what you and your family need, that it can be difficult for parents to know what to feed their children.

Basically, the nutrients essential for healthy growth and development are: Carbohydrates, proteins, fat, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. These are all found in the four main food groups:

Milk and dairy products, such as yoghurt and cheese
Carbohydrates or starchy foods, such as potatoes, bread, pasta, rice and other grains
Meat and meat alternatives, including, poultry, fish, pulses, eggs, nuts, quinoa and soya
Fruit and vegetables, including root vegetables, leafy green vegetables, salad vegetables, and all fruit and fruit juices

If you ensure that you offer your child food from all four groups at every meal, you will be giving him a well-balanced diet, containing all the essential nutrients. To achieve optimum nutrition, it is important to provide a range of different foods and not to keep offering the same familiar favourites.

By preparing nutritious meals and snacks for your child, you will be establishing all-important healthy eating habits from the outset. As well as avoiding highly-processed food and additives, which I find can trigger health, behavioural and sleep problems in some children, you will also be laying firm foundations for enjoyment of good home-cooked, healthy food. Children who are offered a varied diet are less likely to become fussy eaters, but, nevertheless, many children do go through a period of fussiness.

This should be short-lived, however, and you can be confident meanwhile that you are providing excellent nutrition and have not caused your child's fussiness by offering ready-made foods and processed snacks, laden with salt, sugar and empty calories.