Parenting Pointers - How to Raise Healthy Eaters Without Putting Kids on a Diet

By Kimberlie Le, food scientist and co-founder of Prime Roots

Getting picky eaters to eat healthy foods is hard work. Add in the stress of morning rush hour, busy schedules, expensive groceries and the fact that kids want snacks every 15 minutes and it can seem like a thankless task.

But most of the easiest foods to grab on the go are ultra-processed and kids are lacking fiber in their diets. This doesn’t mean you should overhaul your entire pantry or start restricting the foods they love. A better approach is to focus on what you can add to meals — more fruits, vegetables, fiber, protein and other nutritious foods — rather than what you need to take away. It helps round out meals while still leaving room for the foods kids crave, which can make healthy eating feel more sustainable long term.

• Start with the foods they already like. You don't have to revamp every ingredient in your child's lunch to make it slightly healthier. If they like snack boxes, try Parmela's Munch Boxes, which offer a plant-based spin on a familiar product kids already eat. You can also recreate this at home with crackers, fruit, hummus, vegetables and a protein. Kids tend to be more receptive to foods they already know, so start there.

• Don't force them to try new foods, but keep offering. If a child rejects a food, it's unlikely they will suddenly gain interest in it, but introducing new foods consistently and pairing them with something they like can help. Letting them choose their own fruit at the grocery store or involve them in making choices about what to put in their lunch or prepare for dinner can also spark their interest in food.

• Look at what packaged foods your child eats most often. No one is saying you stop buying boxed foods altogether, but if you're going to continue purchasing items in a box or bag, consider the nutrition information. Deli meats are a common source of protein for children interested in sandwiches, wraps and snack boxes for lunch. They're classified as carcinogenic and nitrates/nitrites in processed meats cause cancer. This means that even "natural" or "uncured" products that use celery powder as a source of nitrates need to be limited. If your family eats deli meats regularly, try to limit these as much as possible and always look for products with no nitrates or nitrites, such as Prime Roots.

• Limit all-day snacking. Snacking is a good way to introduce more foods into a child's diet. However, frequent grazing can make kids less hungry at main meals and cause them to eat smaller portions. Kids eating a variety of foods throughout the day also helps them feel full and satisfied on fewer calories. Snacks can also be a great place to start when it comes to fiber. Foods like fruits, vegetables, whole-wheat crackers, legumes, nuts and seeds are all good sources of fiber and can help kids stay full longer.

None of this has to happen overnight. Kids don’t need a perfect diet and parents don’t need more things to feel guilty about. Focus on the foods that your family is already eating, look for easy ways to make slight changes, and encourage a more varied diet without making meals into a battleground.