A Family Approach to Helping Our Children Create Healthy Eating Habits
As parents, one of our most important yet challenging tasks is fostering healthy eating habits in our children. In today’s world filled with sugary snacks, boxed meals, and endless unhealthy food choices (at a child’s eye level by design), ensuring that our kids eat nutritious meals is often an uphill battle. But what if the key to building lasting healthy eating habits isn’t just about the food itself? What if it’s about creating an environment that encourages curiosity, exploration, and a genuine appreciation for food? In this post, I’ll share a story from our own dinner table that offers insight into how parents can help their children develop healthy eating habits. By incorporating fun, maybe even a cultural learning, and a relaxed approach, we can make mealtime an enjoyable, educational, and healthy experience.
A Moment at the Dinner Table
It was one of those nights when my husband decided to prepare a “grown-up” meal—a dish that, while absolutely delicious to him and I, wouldn’t exactly be a child’s first choice. On the menu was kielbasa sausage, cubed potatoes, and sauerkraut. I know, I know, we were setting ourselves up for an almost guaranteed dinner-time struggle. But we firmly believe that it’s important to introduce our kids to new foods and flavors that they may not typically encounter. We see these meals as opportunities for them to expand their palates and experience something beyond typical “kid” food.
As expected, our children protested. “Ew, gross!” they both exclaimed almost immediately once they got into the kitchen, rejecting the dish before even tasting it. To be honest, I was prepared for this reaction. While this meal was full of bold flavors and nostalgia for my husband and me, we knew it was most likely a hard pass for our girls. But I wasn’t ready to back down just yet. Instead of giving up, I tried to shift the focus. “Just try it,” I said. “It’s the food of our ancestors.”
At that moment, our middle child—who’s 7 and has a deep interest in cultures, languages, and history—immediately perked up. She’s always curious about where people come from, the languages they speak, and the histories that shape who we are today. When I mentioned the word “ancestors,” she was intrigued. “Our ancestors used to eat this?” she asked.
This question led us into a conversation about our heritage. We talked about the countries our families came from, including my dad’s side, which has roots in Germany. We also discussed the rich history behind the foods that have been passed down through generations. As we continued talking, our 7-year-old began to eat the kielbasa and sauerkraut. To my surprise, she really enjoyed it! By the end of our conversation, she had finished her entire plate and even asked for seconds.
Our oldest daughter, on the other hand, wasn’t persuaded. She stuck to her comfort zone and made herself a classic PB&J sandwich. That was perfectly fine. This wasn’t about forcing them to eat everything on their plate; it was about giving them the freedom to explore new flavors at their own pace. When our oldest chose to make a sandwich, she grabbed a new plate, leaving her original one with the food she didn’t want to eat. By the end of the meal, she had tried a few bites of the kielbasa and sauerkraut, but ultimately decided she didn’t like it. And that was okay!
Why I Think This Approach Worked
As my kids get older, I am mindful to shift some responsibility and decision making their way. Meals can be an easy first step towards this independence. After this particular meal, I spent some time reflecting on how our experience highlights a few key strategies that can help parents, like me, nurture healthy eating habits in their children. Don’t get me wrong here, our family has had plenty of meltdowns at the dinner table. This particular experience felt so peaceful and fun that in warranted some reflection. I decided I wanted to share my thoughts, so here are the top lessons I took away from this experience:
1. Encourage Exploration Without Pressure
Encouraging kids to try new foods is a crucial step in developing a healthy relationship with food. However, it’s important to approach this without pressuring them. By inviting our kids to “just try it” and leaving the decision of whether or not they like it entirely up to them, we’re empowering them to explore food in a way that feels safe and controlled. We want our children to see food as an exciting adventure, not something to be feared or dreaded.
As you can see from the dinner-time story, our oldest child is more cautious when it comes to trying new foods, while our middle child is a bit more adventurous. This dynamic plays out not only at home but also when we dine at restaurants. Our oldest typically sticks to her tried-and-true favorites, whereas our middle child is often eager to try something new. So, we let her! At restaurants, my husband and I often make sure that one of us orders something on the safer side in case we need to switch with her. Our point being that we encourage our daughters to explore new foods in a safe environment. Sometimes our daughter wins and picks her new favorite food! Even letting her sister try a bite to check it out. Sometimes she loses and gets to enjoy my chicken club sandwich. More often than not, she wins and we add it to our at-home menu.
2. Make Eating Fun and Educational
Instead of simply telling our kids to eat their food, we turned the experience into an educational opportunity. Our conversation about our heritage and the foods of our ancestors made dinner more engaging and meaningful. Not only did our daughter get to try something new, but she also learned about the history behind the meal. By incorporating storytelling into mealtime, we encourage our kids to see food as something more than just fuel for their bodies—it’s an opportunity to learn about culture, history, and family traditions.
We are making it a point to explore food from different countries and cultures regularly. It’s become a fun tradition in our household to try new recipes from all over the world. On this particular evening, our conversation about Germany opened up the idea of incorporating more cultural exploration into our meals. We plan to continue this, using mealtime as an opportunity to teach our children about different cultures through the foods we eat.
3. Create a Positive, Relaxed Eating Environment
Mealtime, especially as our kids get older, can be a pleasant and enjoyable experience—not a stressful one. If we constantly push our kids to eat foods they don’t like or guilt them into finishing their plate, we risk creating negative associations with food. Instead, we can focus on making mealtime a relaxed, positive part of the day. For example, when our oldest chose to make a PB&J sandwich instead of trying the kielbasa and sauerkraut, we didn’t make a big deal out of it. She was allowed to make her own choice, and we reinforced that it’s okay to stick with familiar foods as long as they’re part of a balanced diet. Note, we do not offer the alternative meal option unless necessary – like the food has really bold flavors or turned out to be a little too spicy. When we do, it’s a special treat. This makes it exciting for our kids and helps prevent them from seeing it as a regular fallback. Most of the time our kids eat exactly the what the family is eating.
4. Model Healthy Eating Habits
Children learn by example. They’re much more likely to develop healthy eating habits if they see their parents modeling those behaviors. By making mealtime a shared family experience, we introduce our kids to new tastes and demonstrate how to maintain a healthy relationship with food. For example, as my husband and I ate the kielbasa and sauerkraut, we showed our children that we’re open to different foods, outside of our normal rotation of meals, and that it’s okay to enjoy a variety of cultural dishes.
Even though this particular dish wasn’t a hit for everyone, I was reminded that we as a family do enjoy a wide variety of foods. This became especially apparent when one of our daughter’s friends came over for dinner. We realized just how special our diverse meals were when we had to simplify the menu for her friend, who wasn’t accustomed to the types of meals we regularly have. Luckily, we had the ingredients to whip up some kid-friendly, homemade macaroni and cheese which was a hit! We even let the friend choose the type of noodles! After the playdate, my girls were glad to know that we would be having enchiladas (a family favorite) the next night!
5. Offer Balanced Choices
While introducing new foods is important, it’s also essential to respect children’s preferences. In our case, the PB&J sandwich option allowed our daughter to feel in control of her meal choices and made sure she fueled her body. In addition to offering up PB&J sandwiches, we also let our girls choose leftovers from a previous meal if we have them as an option too. We try to be mindful when making a meal that is easy to double, or make extras servings of, knowing that it gives freedom for my husband and I to have a “grown up” meal later in the week if we want.
How to Help Kids Build Healthy Eating Habits
Hopefully my dinner-time story has highlighted some new ideas or approaches, but how can you apply these strategies to your own family? Here are a few practical tips that I think can help:
1. Introduce New Foods Gradually
Don’t expect your child to love a new food right away. Children often need to be exposed to a new food multiple times before they develop a liking for it. Be patient, and try introducing one new food at a time. Make the experience fun and engaging, and let them explore the food in a way that feels natural. Also, be mindful in your meal planning to not introduce more than one new meal per week. “Sandwich” a new meal between tried and true comfort meals – see what I did there!
2. Make Meals Interactive
Encourage your kids to help prepare meals. Whether they wash vegetables, stir ingredients, or assemble their own plates, giving them hands-on tasks can foster excitement and ownership over the food they eat. It also creates an opportunity to talk about the health benefits of the foods they’re preparing. My kids are always more receptive (and less likely to complain) about the meal if they have helped me in some way prepare it.
3. Make Family Meals a Priority
Eating together as a family provides an opportunity for connection, conversation, and shared experiences. Family meals also offer a chance to model healthy eating behaviors and teach children social and emotional skills around food. Go ahead and talk about the meal you are eating. What do you like about it? What don’t you like about it? Support your children in their voice to share their likes and dislikes. Try to make family mealtimes a regular part of your routine, even if it’s just once or twice a week.
A normal weeknight meal in our family is usually just me with the kids around our island. My husband’s work schedule can be unpredictable. If he calls on his drive and lets me know that he is on his way and will be close to dinner time, then we wait for him so we can enjoy a meal as a family at the table. Sunday nights are reserved for a more formal family meal which everyone looks forward to.
4. Balance Treats with Healthy Choices
Treats like cookies, chips, and ice cream are fine in moderation, but they shouldn’t be the center of the diet, much to my oldest child’s disapproval. One of the biggest cycles I allow for our family to get into and then have to re-break is around treats. Because my children are generally good eaters, and often eat balanced meals, when I am asked for a treat it is way too easy to say yes. That is until I realize that treats have become part of the meal itself, no longer being a treat. I know we have a problem again when my kids continuously say they are done with supper so that they can enjoy a treat and then after their treat is gone they ask for more supper. I am constantly trying to help them see that a balanced approach to eating allows room for treats while still prioritizing nutrition.
I try to help my girls see treats for what they are, treats! One way we do this is not requiring them to finish their treat. What I mean by this, is that after their regular meal, if our kids get too full while enjoying their treat, they can save it or toss it knowing that they can have another the next time, no questions asked. My husband and I do not get upset about throwing away uneaten treats. We do not say no to getting a mini DQ cookie dough Blizzard knowing that the last 3 have ended up half eaten in the freezer or garbage. They are treats, not treasures – even if they do cost a small fortune!..
Building a Foundation for Healthy Eating Habits
Ultimately, I think the key to helping kids build healthy eating habits isn’t about forcing them to eat everything on their plate or eliminating all treats. It’s about fostering a positive, open-minded approach to food. By encouraging exploration, offering balanced choices, and creating an environment that celebrates food, you can help your children develop a lifelong appreciation for healthy eating.
Remember, it’s not about perfection. It’s about progress, patience, and creating positive experiences around food. Whether it’s through introducing your child to your cultural heritage, making mealtimes interactive, or simply enjoying family meals together, you are laying the foundation for healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.
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