Healthy Kids

Giving your kids a healthy, nutritious diet from the start is one of the very best things you can do for them. They'll be happier, more alert, more energetic and less susceptible to illness and infection.

The easiest way to make sure kids learn great eating habits is for the entire family to enjoy nutritious, healthy, unprocessed foods.

• Include a wide variety of fresh foods, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and wholegrain cereals. Keep saturated fats, such as butter and lard, to a minimum and use healthier monounsaturated fat - such as olive oil - for cooking, baking and spreading.
  
  
• Keep meals simple to encourage children to continue to eat healthily as they get older. If preparing meals is too time-consuming, they'll be put off the idea of healthy eating and you'll all be tempted to reach for convenience foods.
  
  
• Use your imagination to get kids to eat well.
  ...make salads as colourful as possible
  ...disguise vegetables in a pureed soup
  ...give them tasty dips with raw carrot and celery sticks
  
  
• Get the kids involved. If they help choose and prepare the food, they are far more likely to want to eat it.
  
  

To ensure that your child eats healthily and in accordance with their age and energy requirements, always consult your GP, health visitor or children's clinic for full advice. This applies in particular to children under the age of five, who have very specific nutritional needs.