18 Aug August Is Kids Eat Right Month!
Along with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, we here at V.E. Irons, Inc., have decided to celebrate their fourth annual Kids Eat Right Month this August.
In an effort to help raise awareness about the role of nutrition plays in ensuring a healthy future for children, we thought that we would share with you some easy steps that you and your family can take with you when it comes to our children’s nutrition and physical activity during these last few days of summer. Here are some easy back to school lunch tips. Take a look!
01 KEEP IT SIMPLE
Young children need nutrients to feed their developing bodies and brains! Keep your lunches simple by feeding them real, unprocessed food; fruits, vegetables, healthy sources of protein and whole grains. As always, try your best avoid artificial colors, flavors, and chemical preservatives.
02 KEEP IT FRESH
Like you, children enjoy good food. This is why it’s important to model healthy eating habits and by adding a variety of flavors to your children’s lunch boxes. The easiest way to accomplish this is to add small amounts of cinnamon to applesauce, vanilla and/or fresh berries to plain yogurt, basil to whole wheat pasta, or even dill pickles, sauerkraut and kimchi as a side. They’re wonderful probiotics that will greatly benefit their intestinal flora and help prevent inflammation.
03 KEEP IT COLORFUL
Eating with the seasons and making sure to have a variety of colors on your plate is the best way to ensure that your family is getting a wide range of nutrients! This is why exposing your child to an assortment of textures, colors and flavors is so important early in life. You can also cut foods into shapes to increase interest in eating, just by using a cookie cutter to create sandwiches in a fun shape or rolling bread into pinwheels. Have fun and get creative!
04 MAKE IT FINGER FRIENDLY
Those cute little fingers of theirs have a hard time using utensils so pack things that can be eaten with their hands instead of a fork and spoon. Easy to pack foods like whole wheat crackers, diced baked chicken breast, carrot sticks, grapes, nuts, pickles and fresh berries are all great options.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s. This means that one in five children, ages 6-19, are obese. That’s why with statistics like these, it’s more important than ever for us adults to model healthy eating and exercise habits. Because even the simplest changes to your daily routine can create dramatic results for you and those you love.
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