September marks “Childhood Obesity Awareness” month, making it the perfect time to focus on our children’s well-being. Parents and caregivers constantly hear about the importance of healthy eating. However, achieving this can be challenging, especially with long workdays and the convenience of fast food.
The American Academy of Paediatrics recently published guidelines for managing paediatric obesity, highlighting a significant concern: “The current and long-term health of 14.4 million children and adolescents is affected by obesity, making it one of the most common paediatric chronic diseases.”
Considering these alarming statistics, I spoke with Zhan Otto, a dietitian I have collaborated with for many years. She shared her top 10 tips for encouraging children to eat healthy foods. Here are her valuable insights:
Top 10 Tips for Promoting Healthy Eating in Children
1. Don’t Just Tell Them, Show Them
Children learn by observing adults, especially their parents. Demonstrating healthy eating behaviours is far more effective than simply giving verbal instructions.
2. Make Healthy Food Choices Fun
Create a “cake” using watermelon slices for dessert. Layer with low-fat frozen yoghurt and top with fresh cherries. This approach makes healthy eating enjoyable and visually appealing.
3. Use Animals as Physical Trainers
Young dogs love playing in the garden or park. Children will run around with them until they’re tired, often without even realising they’re exercising.
4. Limit Portions of Snacks and Processed Foods
Snack foods often have intense flavours that encourage overeating. They are also packed with calories. For example, one small box of Astro’s contains 822 kJ, which is the same as a small banana and 100g of natural low-fat yoghurt.
5. Create a ‘Favourites’ List
Teach each child to select one treat they enjoy and buy it in a small portion. Treats should be special and ideally saved for weekends. For example, choose a small Häagen-Dazs ice cream or a packet of crisps.
6. Make Food Fun with Colours, Shapes, and Textures
Prepare a large platter with a variety of colourful, healthy foods. Include raw vegetables, fruit slices, popcorn, chicken kebabs, baby potatoes, avocado dip, and small cubes of mozzarella. This variety makes meals more engaging for children.
7. Start Early: The Golden Window of Opportunity (6-24 Months)
Introduce a wide range of healthy, fresh, natural foods from the start of weaning. This approach gives children the best chance to grow up healthy, slim, and well-adjusted.
8. Create a Colour Competition Chart
Encourage each family member to track the number of different colours of plant foods they eat each day. Each portion should be at least ¼ cup. At the end of the week, the person with the most variety wins a non-food prize.
9. Avoid Using Snacks as Rewards
Instead of rewarding with food, consider activities or toys that promote learning or physical activity. For example, buy a stimulating game or fly a kite together. Frame these as “special treats” for weekends.
10. Fabulous Fibre: The Fat-Fighting Friend
Natural fibre-rich foods help maintain a healthy weight and promote overall well-being. Fibre controls blood glucose, creates a sense of fullness, regulates appetite, maintains gut health, and supports healthy colon function. Some high-fibre foods include apples or pears with skin, raw and cooked carrots, butter beans, lentils, brown rice, rolled oats, peas, cabbage, and broccoli.
Conclusion
Whenever I refer a patient to Zhan for weight management, I see children become more enthusiastic about healthy eating. They start to model their favourite sports stars and get involved in the kitchen. Zhan teaches both children and parents that healthy eating is not only vital for health but can also be fun.
About Zhan Otto
Zhan Otto is a registered dietitian with 25 years of experience in private practice. She works with both young and older patients in hospitals and at her office at Rochester Place. She enjoys yoga and cycling with her soon-to-be husband, Mike. Zhan practices what she preaches by leading a healthy lifestyle. She believes natural foods provide “divine design nutrients,” essential for the healthy growth and development of all children. She is dedicated to helping parents and caregivers make good nutrition practices a priority in the home. Introducing excellent nutrition habits to toddlers between 6 and 24 months offers a “golden window of opportunity” to set children on a path to a healthy, active lifestyle.
Zhan Otto
BSc (Dietetics) and Postgraduate Diploma in Hospital Dietetics (University of Pretoria)
