In This ArticleView AllIn This Article1. Yogurt2. Beans3. Eggs4. Avocado5. Sweet Potato6. Milk7. Nuts and Seeds8. Whole Grains9. Berries10. Vegetables, Any Kind!Tips for Getting Your Kids to Eat Healthy Foods
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Yogurt
Beans
Eggs
Avocado
Sweet Potato
Milk
Nuts and Seeds
Whole Grains
Berries
Vegetables, Any Kind!
Tips for Getting Your Kids to Eat Healthy Foods
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Photo: Diana Chistruga
Anyone who’s ever tried to feed a child (something other than cereal or ice cream) knows they don’t always eat what you want. Trying to figure out what to make tonourish their tiny bodiesis stressful. Plus, just because it gets served doesn’t mean your kids will eat it. But kids need nutritious food—healthy fats for their brains, calcium for their bones and all the vitamins and minerals vegetables offer—and more.
To take out some of the stress and make sure you’re offering your child nutrient-dense foods, we compiled expert tips for mealtimes and a list of the top 10 healthy foods for kids. These foods are not only healthy for your kids (and for you!) but are also versatile and easy to prepare.
A Month of Healthy Meals for Kids
Illustrations: Getty Images; EatingWell design
Pictured Recipe:Toaster-Oven Tostadas
Beans are a very nutritious food.They’re loaded with protein and fiber, plus they’re cheap and take little time to prepare. Buy low-sodium canned beans such as black beans, chickpeas or kidney beans. Simply open the can, rinse the beans to remove extra sodium and add to any dish.
“Replacing ground beef with beans in a quesadilla or tossing beans with pasta helps maintain high-quality, lean protein while adding a key nutrient: fiber,” says Andrews.
There are pastas made from beans too. “Kids ages 4 to 8 need around 25 grams of fiber a day, and most products marketed directly to kids, like fruit snacks and cheese crackers, contain little if any. Fiber helps promote healthy digestion and helps your kids feel fuller longer, so they aren’t asking you for a snack five minutes after dinner ends,” says Andrews.
Pictured Recipe:Spinach & Egg Scramble with Raspberries
One large egg has 6 g of protein and delivers vitamin D, vitamin B12 and iron, per theUSDA. Some eggs are also fortified withomega-3 fatty acids, which aid in kids' brain development. Don’t worry about the cholesterol—saturated and trans fats have a bigger impact on raising bad cholesterol than eggs.
At breakfast, skip the pastries, fried foods and processed meats and scramble some eggs for your kids instead. If your kids aren’t fans of scrambled, try different presentations like egg salad oregg casseroles.
Eggs also make a great starter food for babies. Doctors used to recommend not giving eggs until babies were 12 months old. However, as of 2020, theAmerican Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunologystates that allergenic foods like eggs can be introduced when babies are ready for solid foods, and in fact, might help prevent food allergies.
Pictured Recipe:Avocado-Bun Turkey Sliders
Avocados are full of health benefitsand are an easy way to get healthy fats into your child’s diet. They are high in monounsaturated fats, which decrease inflammation and keep cholesterol levels healthy. Fat moves through the digestive tract slowly, so it keeps kids full longer. But the best part of avocados? Their versatility. You can eat them with a spoon,mash them on toast, throw them into a smoothie, mix them into chicken or tuna salad or make a pasta sauce likeavocado pesto.
Short on time and need something nutritious? Wash a sweet potato, poke some holes in it and microwave it for 3-5 minutes (depending on its size). Slice it lengthwise, let it cool, then scoop it onto your child’s plate.
Whether your kid is 6 months old, 6 years old or 16 years old, sweet potatoes are appealing across the board (because they’re sweet!). They’re packed with beta carotene that the body uses to make vitamin A, fiber and potassium, per theUSDA. Adequate potassium intake keeps blood pressure and hearts healthy.
Milk helps build strong bonesbecause it’s full of calcium and vitamin D. According to theUSDA, one 8-ounce glass of whole cow’s milk is also high in phosphorus, vitamin B12 and potassium, and has 8 g of protein.
Babies shouldn’t have cow’s milk or milk alternatives until age 1. Offer whole milk until age 2 but keep it under 16 ounces for the day, or they might be too full to eat their food, per theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
If your child doesn’t like cow’s milk, there are avariety of alternativeson shelves. But check the nutrition labels and choose unsweetened or plain varieties for your kids. Plain may have some added sugar to match the sweetness of dairy milk, which may be more palatable to tiny taste buds. Every alternative milk has a different nutrition profile, and some provide very little protein and low levels of vitamins and minerals, such as calcium and vitamin D. Soymilk has the most protein, and you’ll get the same calcium and vitamin D benefit as long as the milk is fortified.
Joy Howard
Pictured Recipe:Salted Coconut-Caramel Energy Balls
Nuts arehigh in magnesium, a mineral that’s crucial in bone development and energy production. Walnuts, pecans, chia seeds and flaxseeds are high in alpha-linolenic (ALA) acid, a type of omega-3 fat that the body can’t make (so you have to eat it).
Offer nuts alone or with dried fruit, throw flaxseed into smoothies, sprinkle chia seeds on peanut butter toast, use sliced almonds to “bread” chicken instead of breadcrumbs ormake your own granola bars.
Whole grainsdeliver a nutrient lacking in most kids' diets: fiber. Fiber keeps them full and regular, in addition to otherhealth benefits. Kids need about 25 g per day, but many snacks only contain 1-3 gper serving. Look for 100% whole wheat or whole grain in the ingredients list and at least 3-5 g of fiber per serving.
High-fiber whole-grain foods for kidsinclude oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, whole-wheat tortillas and whole-wheat bread. If your kids don’t tolerate whole-wheat pasta, try half-whole-wheat, half-white. You can also use whole-wheat flour or white whole-wheat flour whenmaking pancakes,cookiesor pizza dough.
One cup of berries has 4 (or more) g of fiber and is high in vitamin C and other antioxidants like anthocyanins. Blueberries, blackberries and strawberries are also lower in sugar than many fruits. Fresh berries make an excellent snack for kids or a great topping for yogurt. If berries aren’t in season, buy unsweetened frozen berries and mix them into a jar of overnight oats or asmoothie.
Pictured Recipe:Maple Roasted Carrots
Kids and adults alike don’t eat enough veggies. If you can get your child to eatanyvegetable—kudos! And the more color and the greater the variety of vegetables, the better.Each color delivers different nutrients: Leafy greens like spinach and kale are high in vitamin K, orange and red vegetables have vitamin A, peppers are packed with vitamin C, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower contain cancer-fighting compounds and feed good gut bacteria.
Andrews also recommends introducing new vegetables along with ones that your child is already familiar with. “Make-your-own taco bars or pizza night at home are great ways to encourage young chefs!” says Andrews.
Don’t give up after offering a vegetable a few times. It takes repeated exposure. Switching up how you serve the vegetables can help too. Some kids won’t eat raw tomatoes but will eat cooked diced tomatoes in a pasta sauce.
How can you get your kids to eat more of these healthy foods? Try these ideas.
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