Building and maintaining healthy habits is essential for wellbeing throughout these unprecedented times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Healthy habits ensure that you and your family are eating healthily, getting enough sleep, exercising daily, relaxing and hydrating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marie Al-Nasrawi,\u00a0Deputy Head, Repton Abu Dhabi has compiled 10 Healthy Eating Tips to support you in your efforts at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Parents control what foods are available:<\/strong> 2. From the foods you offer, allow your child to choose what they will eat or whether to eat at all:<\/strong> 3. Start them young:<\/strong> 4. Quit the \u201cclean-plate club\u201d:<\/strong> 5. Drink calories count:<\/strong> 6. Rewrite the menu: <\/strong> 7. Food is not love:<\/strong> 8. Limit TV and Screen time:<\/strong> 9. Put sweet treats in their place:<\/strong> 10. Be a role model<\/strong>: Building and maintaining healthy habits is essential for wellbeing throughout these unprecedented times. Healthy habits ensure that you and your family are eating healthily, getting enough sleep, exercising daily, relaxing and hydrating. Marie Al-Nasrawi,\u00a0Deputy Head, Repton Abu Dhabi has compiled 10 Healthy Eating Tips to support you in your efforts at home. 1. Parents control […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"news-category":[16],"news-tag":[],"class_list":["post-5672","school_news","type-school_news","status-publish","hentry","news-category-news-and-events"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
You decide which foods to buy and when to serve them. All children pester their parents for less nutritious foods. However, you as an adult should be in charge when deciding which foods are regularly stocked in the house. Children won\u2019t go hungry. They\u2019ll eat what\u2019s available in the cupboard and fridge at home.
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Schedule regular meal and snack times. From the selections you offer, let them choose what to eat and how much of it they want. This may seem like a little too much freedom. But if you follow step 1, your kids will be choosing only from the foods you buy and serve.
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Food preferences are developed early in life, so offer variety. Likes and dislikes begin forming even when kids are babies. You may need to serve a new food a few\u202fdifferent times for a child to accept it. Don\u2019t force a child to eat, but offer a few bites. With older kids, ask them to try one bite.
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Let kids stop eating when they feel they\u2019ve had enough. Lots of parents grew up under the clean-plate rule, but that approach doesn\u2019t help kids listen to their own bodies when they feel full. When kids notice and respond to feelings of fullness, they\u2019re less likely to overeat.
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Fizzy drinks and other sweetened drinks add extra calories and get in the way of good nutrition.\u202fWater and milk\u202fare the best drinks for children. Juice is fine when it\u2019s 100%, but should be limited \u2014 4 to 6 ounces a day is enough for younger children.
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When ordering food, let your kids try new foods and they might surprise you with their willingness to experiment. You can start by letting them try a little of whatever you ordered or ordering a starter for them to try.
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Find better ways to say \u201cI love you.\u201d Offer hugs, praise, and attention instead of food treats.
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When you do, you\u2019ll avoid mindless snacking and encourage activity. Research has shown that kids who cut down on screen time also reduced their percentage of body fat. Limiting \u201cscreen time\u201d means you\u2019ll have more time to be active together.
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Occasional sweets are fine, but don\u2019t turn dessert into the main reason for eating dinner. When dessert is the prize for eating dinner, children naturally place more value on the cupcake than the broccoli. Try to stay neutral about foods.
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Your children will do as you do so eat healthily yourself. When trying to teach good eating habits, try to set the best example possible. Choose nutritious snacks, eat at the table, and don\u2019t skip meals. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"