Good Eating Habits – Lessons for Life

Good eating habits are not to do with how you hold a knife and fork but about the kind of food you eat, your attitudes to food and the part it plays in your life. Our ideas start being shaped in the early years by what our parents teach us – both in the example they set and the food they offer. This early influence can be far-reaching and carries through into school years and possibly into adult life. Good eating habits lessen the risk of a weight problem and increase the likelihood of good health, so you will be doing your child a big favour if you look objectively at your own eating habits and try not to pass on the bad ones.

DO teach him to eat principally at mealtimes. It does not matter that the actual times may be a bit erratic or the meals informal – you are teaching that eating happens at specific times and that life is not a non-stop nibble. However, most young children need three small meals and three snacks a day.

DO NOT feed him endless high-calorie snacks between meals. He will not be hungry for the more nutritious food offered at the meal and is more likely to go short of the essential nutrients. To begin with, babies and toddlers need five to six meals and snacks a day, but that is different from untouched meals and endless rusks, crisps, biscuits and sugary drinks in between.

DO teach him to enjoy a wide variety of different foods. You need to persist when offering new foods to toddlers and babies and continue to give small amounts of new items until they get used to the taste.

DO NOT be defeated into giving only two or three particular foods in the early days to a fussy toddler because that is all he seems to want – keep trying different ideas in between the favourites and do not fuss when he refuses.

DO set the example you want him to copy with your own eating habits. Children are highly imitative and that applies to what you eat, not just how you eat. Share mealtimes and eat the same dishes once they are old enough for ordinary family food. If mum and dad do not have vegetables nor will their children!

DO NOT teach him to crave sugar. If you never add it to drinks and foods or give him foods with a great deal of sugar he will never miss it. Mothers often find it hard to feed their children drinks or foods they would not like, but if you already have the sugar habit resist the temptation to pass it on – too much sugar only rots teeth. Try to cut it out yourself.

DO teach him to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables by giving him different varieties from an early age and by eating them yourself.

DO NOT condition him into eating extra salt by sprinkling it over food at the table – it is quite unnecessary. All convenience foods contain a lot of added salt, and not just the savoury items, so we are already taking in quite enough without adding extra. There is a suggestion that eating too much salt over a lifetime may predispose certain people to high blood pressure. Giving salt to babies, even in home-made foods, is not advised as it increases the risk of them becoming dehydrated.

DO let him follow his natural appetite in deciding how much to eat. If you do not let him fill up on continuous snacks between meals, his hunger is the best measure of how much he needs at any meal.

DO NOT insist that he always clear his plate or try to cajole him into eating more than he wants.