As a mother to a three-year-old, my biggest concern is whether my child has been getting enough nutrients from his daily meal. I make sure to teach him healthy eating habits, as I believe good nutrition is crucial to fuel him as he is growing up.
Although my child tends to be picky with his food, I am a firm believer that starting him off on the right foot with food will set the foundation for a healthy lifestyle that he will carry into adulthood.
That is why I try not to limit my child’s eating habits. He experiences healthy eating habits with food through self-learning and by watching others. Other than modelling healthy eating myself, there are other ways parents can do to instil this in their children.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Healthy Eating Habits
1. Do teach your child what food does to their body
When we see our children reaching for junk food, we tend to get angry at them and tell them off without explanation. I personally find that children are highly inquisitive about their surroundings and their bodies. They want to know how things work and we as parents should teach them what food does to their bodies.
Use this as an example, we want children to eat apples and we would normally say “Apples are good for you. If you don’t eat them, you will get sick easily!”. Try this instead, “Apples are delicious and eating it can give you a strong heart.”
This allows children to process their own healthy eating habits without forcing them or creating a fear-mongering situation. Never force them to eat something if they refuse it.
With that said, if a child feels restricted, they will only eat certain food and start a tantrum when you force them to try different meals. And eventually, parents will feel frustrated and only offer meals that their children like without taking nutrients into consideration.
2. Do teach children to eat at the dining table
My husband and I have a bad habit of eating our meals in front of the television and I started to notice that my son would prefer to have his meal this way too. However, when we are at my parent’s house, they insist that everyone eat at the dining table.
When they model this behaviour, my son would follow suit. He would sit properly on his chair and try different variations of meals because everyone is doing so right in front of him!
The best part is everyone talks to each other and my son no longer depends on screen time to keep himself entertained.
3. Don’t forbid treats
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This might be an unpopular opinion, however, I believe we should treat food equally and this includes treats. Parents tend to worry that their children will become unhealthy and that we might be failing as parents.
I make sure that the treats my son is eating are in children-sized portions and I will always make sure to serve the treat with his regular meals.
When your child feels restricted with their meals, that is when they start to eat sneakily, binge on food or start to obsess with food. You do not want to encourage this behaviour as it will continue to affect them into adulthood.
4. Don’t force them to eat
It comes naturally to us parents when we want our children to eat certain food. We tend to say, “finish off your carrots then you get your cookie”. It makes sense to us, but not to the children!
Instead, what they would think is that carrots are gross, cookie is good. They will end up liking the vegetables less and dessert more. To fix this problem, parents should serve everything on the same playing field.
Treat vegetables and desserts as what they are. Do not force your children to choose. Instead, model it to them. You eat your carrots and cookies, they will eat their carrots and cookies.
Support Your Child’s Growth with DUTCH LADY MaxGro
One quick way to get your children to get the right nutrients for optimal growth is by introducing them to milk. DUTCH LADY Milk Industries Berhad (DLMI) recently introduced two new packaging sizes for its latest innovation, DUTCH LADY MaxGro.
With the aim to provide convenience and value to parents, the two new sizes help children reach their growth potential by providing a nutrient-dense offering. The new serving sizes come in a 405g portion pack that contains 15 sachets, and a 1.2kg twin pack — with two 600g packs.
Suitable for children aged 1 – 9 years old, DUTCH LADY MaxGro is DLMI’s first milk-based formula dietary food and provides children with 80% of the recommended daily nutrient intake (Malaysia RNI 2017), as well as packed with essential nutrients, namely 9 Essential Amino Acids (9EAA), Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), Calcium and Vitamin D.
Other nutrients that can be found in DUTCH LADY MaxGro include Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Vitamin A, E, K1, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 and C. The DUTCH LADY MaxGro is specially formulated to support children’s optimal growth, as testified by real mothers in Malaysia, with 97% of them agreeing they feel satisfied with their child’s height gain after consuming DUTCH LADY MaxGro.
Track Your Child’s Growth Using DUTCH LADY MaxGro Growth Tracker
DLMI introduced MaxGro Growth Tracker — a mobile application that helps parents track their children’s growth, alongside the launch of DUTCH LADY MaxGro earlier this year in January.
Since the launch of MaxGro Growth Tracker, 98% of mothers agree they find the growth tracking tool use to track their child’s growth2.
Dialling the user experience further, DLMI is launching a new feature within the app, Growth Predictor, to allow parents to have an overview of their children’s growth projection. Available on Google Play for free, parents can track their child’s growth anytime and anywhere.
Want to Know More? Join DUTCH LADY Facebook Live Session
In conjunction with the launch of the new packaging sizes and the new feature for the MaxGro Growth Track application, DUTCH LADY will be hosting a Facebook Live Session this 30th October (Saturday) at 9 pm.
Early childcare expert, Adlil Rajiah and Corporate Nutritionist of DUTCH LADY, Miah Chuah will talk about Nutrient-dense Consumption for Optimal Growth. This live session aims to spread awareness amongst parents on the importance of choosing a nutrient-dense diet for children to support their growing needs.
Tune in to the Facebook Live session right here on the Dutch Lady Moms Club Facebook Page to find out more.
Reference:
- 80% of Daily Nutrients: Meeting At Least 80% Of Malaysia Recommended Daily Nutrient Intake (Malaysia RNI 2017) For Selected Nutrients Such As Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin A, D3, E, K1, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 and C
- Survey conducted by Home Tester Club between 22/12/2020 and 15/04/2021, 112 members have received and home tested DUTCH LADY MaxGro for 3 months.
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