Making healthy food choices benefits the whole family! Involving your children and youth in this process builds connections, can be fun and an opportunity to be creative. Here are some ideas to help get you started:
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- Coming Together as a Family is Empowering: Give your children or teen a chance to pick a new vegetable or fruit to try. Or even the recipe to a new (parent-approved!) healthier alternative of a family favorite. Whether this is a baked chicken recipe, or a flavorful soup, it is more fun when everyone is involved.
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- Get Started by Downloading Healthy Eating Apps: You can use free mobile apps that allow you to look up healthy recipes. There are apps that even provide recipes personalized to ingredients you have in your fridge.
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- Remind Yourself of the Benefits: Eating well can reduce many health risks and promote a longer life span.
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- Create Fun Activities to Get Your Children Involved: Create fun activities as a family to make the process engaging! Some examples:
- Wheel the Meal: Make a wheel with healthy meal options such as carrots, spinach, string cheese, fish sticks or other readily available options. Your child can spin the wheel to decide which healthy snack they will eat!
- Water Race: Who in the family drinks the most glasses of water? Who is in charge of tallying the score?
- Create an Interesting Menu with Your Teen: Include foods you have never tried before, or foods from different cultures, and learn more about it together. Once the food is prepared, take time to enjoy the meal together.
- Wheel the Meal: Make a wheel with healthy meal options such as carrots, spinach, string cheese, fish sticks or other readily available options. Your child can spin the wheel to decide which healthy snack they will eat!
- Create Fun Activities to Get Your Children Involved: Create fun activities as a family to make the process engaging! Some examples:
- Take Baby Steps: Give everyone a chance to adapt to these new food choices, recipes, and routines. Change is good, but it also takes time.
If you feel overwhelmed or need more emotional support to start the year making new healthy food choices, please reach out to our trained counselors on the California Parent & Youth Helpline 855-427-2736. Call, text, live chat 7 days a week 8am-8pm.
Antonia R is the Chair of the California Parent Leadership Team®. Her favorite healthy foods are Cactus Fruit and Chayote. Her children love incorporating carrots and spinach into their meals.