Help Your Kids Eat Healthy This Summer: 5 Easy Tips

During the school year, your kids are often in a regular pattern of eating. They are constrained by school lunches and limited breakfast patterns. Once summer rolls in and they have endless access to the refrigerator, how can you ensure that they keep to a healthy diet? Here are some easy tips to help your kids eat well this summer. And, of course, these 5 tips center around our favorite summer dining companion, the picky eater.

1. Keep Your Kids Experimenting
One of the biggest problems with picky eaters, and kids in general, is that they pre-determine they don't like certain foods. Seeking to gain their cooperation--or maybe just get through a meal--parents often succumb to the tried and true. Your daughter's only vegetable is corn? The only thing your son will eat is hot dogs? This summer, try a little experimentation. Eating healthy can be fun: Try funny faces made out of vegetables, have watermelon seed spitting contests in the backyard, make your own frozen bananas or fruit smoothies. When introducing a new fruit or vegetable, make it fun for your kids. Invite your child's friends for lunch or dinner (children often learn by example to try new things). When introducing a new food, don't force your child to eat it or even try it. Instead, make the food appear to be a special dish selected and made just for them.