Here's How To Encourage Healthy Eating Habits In Your Kids
CHICAGO (CBS) -- September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and CBS 2 has been giving tips on how to keep your kids healthy.
Meet Elena Marre, who founded The Kids' Table, a cooking school in Chicago that holds classes for kids and families, starting at 2-years-old.
"They can chop things with the special tools we have. These kids in the video are about four. It is amazing what they pick up and how they are able to engage around the food."
Marre says the most exciting part for her is "seeing kids trying new things. We're about teaching culinary skills, but what is more important is to get kids to engage positively around food and to see healthy foods in a new light."
The first step, Marre says, "is to get you to think about food in a different way and to think about making it fun for kids."
Marre sat down with CBS 2's Lionel Moise and offers the following tips to create healthy eating habits for your kids:
- Make food fun
- Eat as a family
- Get kids cooking
- Start them early
"Engage them around food that will make them want to eat it. Pick out something cool in the produce section of the grocery store that is new. Say, 'would you like to eat it with a fork, out of a bowl or a tooth-pick off a cutting board?' Let them have a choice," she says.
She encourages families not only to sit at the table and eat together, but "I mean sit together and eat the same meal."
If you have a picky eater, "you can have the pasta and sauce on the side. Serve it family-style so they have ownership of what goes on their plate," Marre says. You can use tongs or anything to make it more fun. I have had people do picnics under their dining room table. You can think outside the box. Take ownership of that."
Marre suggests getting your kids involved in the meal as creatively as you can. "Even having them pinch a spice and sprinkle it on top foreseeing anything that gets them involved in the meal preparation process can make a difference."
Lastly, she encourages parents to start including their kids in the process young. "Don't get into the processed food rut, which is so easy. They are not delicate. They are small humans and they eat food. You can cook what you're cooking for the meal once they get past the baby food phase."
For more information on The Kids' Table, visit Marre's website.
