 In order to improve your child's eating habits, transform your basket into a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. Since children can be resistant to trying need foods, it is better to add no more than one or two new foods at a time. If too many new foods are offered, your rainbow meal plans may dissolve with their tears. You should familiarize yourself with new foods and how to tell when they are ripe. Your experiment is doomed to fail if foods are too crunchy or not sweet enough because they are not ripe. You can add chopped mango to salsa for a new dish. Chicken or tuna salad wrapped in lettuce leaves make great wraps.Adding healthy foods to your child's diet provides vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other substances of high nutritional value to your meals. For example, the red group includes red bell peppers and radicchio that can be slightly grilled if seasoned with a bit of olive oil and spices. Red peppers add flavor to hamburgers and spaghetti sauce. Blueberries, purple figs, red grapes and plums in the blue-purple group contain phytochemicals that are good for maintaining memory function and supporting urinary tract health. Mangoes, papayas, carrots and squash are good for your vision as they contain carotenoids. Sugar snap peas, spinach, kiwi, green grapes and zucchini provide the body with lutein and indoles that are essential for strong bones and teeth. If you visit www.realage.com/NutritionCenter/Articles.aspx?=10381, you will find a complete listing of fruits and vegetables in every color of the rainbow. There are many ways you can include them in your child's diet. Often, after a child tries something new, they find that they actually like it. It's best if you model eating fruits and vegetables from the rainbow. |
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