Bite size: teach your child to eat healthily

YOU’RE passionate about healthy eating for your child and you keep treat foods to a minimum. The only problem is that he’s offered junk food when he goes to play at his friends’ houses.

Should you follow the online advice of one concerned parent, who sends her child on playdates, armed with a list of ‘forbidden’ foods? Ruth Charles, paediatric dietician with the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute counsels against it.

“It’s very difficult to put these requests — or ‘commandments’— in place. If you’re on the receiving end of this list of demands, it’s going to be very hard for you to stay impartial and remain true to the visiting child’s needs.”

How about sending your child on the playdate with a selection of snacks you’d prefer him to eat? Charles says you have to decide what’s more important — the social aspect of play for your child or what they’ll eat in the other house.

“Sending them with food is moving outside the bounds of why the child is going on the playdate. It’s usually for social recreation. By involving food in the mix, you’re changing the focus. You’re sending the message ‘I don’t trust you — your food isn’t good enough’.”

Charles believes ‘when in Rome’ applies when it comes to children’s exposure to junk food in other houses. “You can’t legislate for it,” she says. The only exception to this rule is if your child is at serious risk due to allergy. In this case, you must absolutely insist that the allergen food is banned.

One way of minimising the outside junk food influence is to ensure your child does most of his eating at home or at school and that he goes on play-dates at non-meal times.

But what if you’re out and about and your child is offered a lollipop? Junior’s automatic response will very likely be ‘yes’. Should you say no?

“As a general rule, it’s fair to teach children not to accept things from strangers, food or otherwise,” says Charles, who suggests planning treat days in advance. She also recommends teaching children to look to parents and ask ‘can I have a lollipop?’ “You can then put it in your pocket and say ‘we’ll have it later’.”

If you’re at an event where there’s a tempting array of sweet treats, it’s best not to use this setting — where the child’s being bombarded with temptation — to instil the healthy eating message.

“Say ‘go ahead’ to a treat. But afterwards tell your child ‘we won’t always do that’. Encourage your child to come to you before he takes anything — let him learn that sometimes you’ll say yes and sometimes no.”

Equip your child with the knowledge to make healthy food choices. “Healthy eating isn’t instinctive, it has to be taught and learned,” says Charles.

Top tips

* Teaching children to eat healthily is a skill for life.

* Lead by example – eat the foods you want your child to eat.

* Plan ahead and bring your own treats.

* Teach your child how to cook.