How to Get Kids to Eat Healthy | 10 Low-Lift Tricks

Is your kid’s diet made up of approximately 95% chicken nuggets and cereal?

It’s okay. This is a safe space.

I’m guilty of occasionally allowing my two-year-old to dip her apple and orange slices in barbecue sauce because frankly, it’s just not worth a throwdown and I’ll take what I can get!

How can we as parents keep these tiny humans from winning the battle of wills? Can we ever hope to learn how to get kids to eat healthy?!

How to Get Kids to Eat Healthy? (Hint: It doesn’t require making animals out of carrot sticks.)

The internet is full of super cute, kid-centric solutions.

Cut vegetables into fun shapes! Use nutritious foods to create animals and adorable scenes that young children will love! Yay!!

Unfortunately for my daughter, this momma doesn’t have the energy (or interest, if we’re being honest) to do all of that.

Those are definitely great solutions. But I don’t want to create any complicated routines that I’ll have to keep up every time I want her to engage in healthy eating habits.

So these are the less adorable things that have worked for us on our journey to learn how to get kids to eat healthy…

The first and easiest way to raise a healthy eater is to stop stocking the pantry with junk food.

We eat what’s available to us. And if I have an option to eat Oreos every afternoon, guess what I’m eating?

That’s not to say that my husband and I never buy snack foods for ourselves. We just put them somewhere our daughter can’t see and request them.

Then it feels like more of a treat to her when she has a froyo date with Daddy, drinks chocolate milk with Papa, or eats M&Ms (her movie theater staple) at the movies.

Substitute healthier versions of kids’ favorite snacks.

Buy grilled chicken nuggets instead of breaded. Try baked or fruit chips (affiliate link) instead of fried. Swap out white bread for whole grains and traditional French fries for sweet potatoes.

My sister-in-law made a delicious “ice cream” for her kids out of Greek yogurt and fruit, and they couldn’t get enough of it.

*adding a few grapes to the fruit mix makes for a sweeter ice cream

Enforce limits on sugary snacks by offering alternatives instead of a flat-out “no.”

After my daughter drinks a glass of chocolate milk, she almost always asks for more. Rather than just saying no, I tell her she can’t have any more chocolate milk, but I’ll gladly give her some regular low-fat milk.

Offering alternative, more nutritious foods has taken her crying and pleading out of the picture.

Add a dip!

Dip takes the chances of younger children eating nutritious foods waaay up. You can dip apples in peanut butter, carrots in ranch, celery in hummus, strawberries in yogurt, and lean protein like grilled chicken in a little barbecue sauce.

Dipping seems to make eating a little more interactive and interesting for my daughter and gives her some control over how much she dips. And what toddler doesn’t love having some control?

Avoid soda.

Both regular and diet soda create cravings for sweets. Maintaining a healthy diet is a tough enough battle without the additional strain of fighting sugar cravings.

Don’t use food as a reward.

I know this one all too well. By associating certain foods with accomplishments, we help to attach emotion to food.

This is probably why as an adult, I still feel the need to “treat” myself after an especially productive day. I tell myself I deserve it.

But in a truly healthy relationship with food, we should view food as fuel, not as happiness or comfort. That’s not to say my daughter won’t create emotional attachments to her momma’s spaghetti or her daddy’s Saturday morning eggs and sausage, but that we won’t use junk food to reward good behavior.

Lead by example as a healthy diet role model.

My daughter is only two, so she wants to do everything I do. That’s why I make sure that she sees me eating a balanced, healthy diet and loudly (maybe a little annoyingly) proclaiming, “Mmmmm! Delicious! This tastes so good!” over healthy family meals at the dinner table.

A few months ago, she saw my husband making a fresh fruit smoothie and asked for her own leaf of spinach. She shoved it in her mouth and loudly declared, “Mmmmm! Tastes good, Dada!”

Monkey see, monkey do. Be a role model.

Consider good eating habits over the week, not over each day.

Our pediatrician is constantly telling us this and it makes sense.

Some days, my daughter eats more than I do. Other days, she somehow survives on two chicken nuggets and a spoon of peanut butter.

Some days, she eats fresh fruit and lean protein and veggie-packed pasta sauces and I’m just so proud I want to tell someone. Other days, she eats popcorn and M&Ms for breakfast. (Thanks, free movie Wednesdays!)

Trust that it will balance out and don’t lose sleep over the fact that your toddler has been surviving off of Kix and fruit juice for the last three days. It won’t last forever.

Make a plan for picky eaters.

You’re thinking it. I’m thinking it…What are you supposed to do with picky eaters?

Dealing with picky eaters can definitely feel challenging but there are several strategies that can help:

1. Family Meals: Eating together as a family can encourage children to try new foods by observing others enjoying them.
2. No Pressure: Avoid forcing your child to eat. Instead, offer a variety of healthy choices and let them decide what and how much to eat of different foods.
3. Engagement: Involve your child in food-related activities like grocery shopping or meal preparation. Ask for their opinion at the grocery store about which of two healthy new foods you should buy. This can make them more interested in trying the foods they helped choose or prepare.
4. Create a Positive Environment: Keep mealtime stress-free. Avoid using food as a reward or punishment and focus on making family meals an enjoyable experience.

By implementing these strategies, parents can help their picky eaters develop healthy eating habits over time.

Don’t let them win!

We’re older and smarter than them. We’ve spent years fine-tuning our mind game skills and stubbornness for such a time as this.

Don’t stop offering healthy choices because you’re positive your kids will turn it down. And don’t proactively offer junk food, assuming that’s what they want. They might just surprise you!

Don’t let on that they might not like certain new foods, telling them, “You have to eat at least two bites of this.” Present new foods to them acting as if you assume they want it because it’s just so darn delicious.

And accept the fact that your children (especially young children) might put up a fight or be unhappy at first. The next week or so might really suck.

But be more stubborn than your kids. Be more patient in waiting it out for your win. Use your parenting prowess to your advantage!

Why is it important for kids to establish healthy eating habits now? Can’t they just wait until they’re older?

Establishing healthy eating habits during childhood is actually crucial for several reasons.

First of all, early eating habits can significantly impact your child’s long-term health.

Healthy eating habits can not only help your child maintain a healthy weight (a powerful ally in avoiding any future medical condition), but can also help them to avoid chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes later in life.

The future aside, your kids are actively growing right now!

Children need a balanced diet to ensure they get essential nutrients for growth and development. A varied diet helps them receive the vitamins and minerals necessary for appropriate physical and cognitive development.

Need another reason to help your kids establish a healthy relationship with nutritious foods? Habits formed in childhood often persist into adulthood!

Encouraging healthy eating habits from a young age can help children develop a positive, healthy relationship with food that lasts a lifetime. By instilling healthy eating habits early, parents can help their children build a strong foundation for a healthy and active life.

Now You Know How to Get Kids to Eat Healthy!

So what’s the secret to how to get kids to eat healthy? Raising a healthy eater doesn’t require waking up at 4:00 am to cut their eggs and turkey sausage into a fairytale scene. (But if you do enjoy that, your kids are definitely the envy of all their friends!)

Stop stocking the pantry with junk food, substitute healthier versions of favorite snack foods, and enforce limits by offering alternatives. Add a dip! Avoid soda, don’t use food as a reward, make a plan for picky eaters, and lead by example.

Finally, look at nutrition over the week and don’t let those tiny humans win! By experimenting and learning how to get kids to enjoy a healthy diet today, we can set them up for a healthier future. We’ll fight them now so that they can thank us later.

Disclosure: While all opinions are our own, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate advertising programs, designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, at no additional cost to you.