12 Remarkable Food Habits To Be Followed At Every Home

As a parent, we play an integral role in shaping our kid’s food habits.

Parents influence their children’s food preferences.

Nutritious and fresh home-cooked food is an indispensable part of a healthy family.

Food brings the whole family together at the dining table.

When a family eats together, it bonds strongly.

But these days, almost every other parent is now worried about their children’s eating habits and their physical health.

Although, every family has its way of dealing with their kid’s food habits. Here in this article, I am mentioning some healthy food habits followed at my home.

12 remarkable food habits followed at my home and should be followed at every home

1. Eat food and snacks at Proper time: Kids need three meals in a day and also snacks in between. I think everyone in the family should be clear on snack time and mealtime. One should follow this at home. I ensure everyone eats meals and snacks at proper times. I do not allow snacks during mealtime. Eating food at the proper-time makes children also happy and less irritable.
2. Food cooked in less Oil: Only a mother knows what food will nourish her loved ones. The mother always tries to cook mouth-watering dishes. I try to cook food that uses less oil, fewer spices but ensure it tastes heavenly.
3. No watching of TV and Mobile Phones while eating: Kids should eat slow and eat with family members rather than watching television or mobile. It is the thumb rule in my house not to watch TV and Phone while eating.
4.  One meal in a week for junk food: Everyone craves junk food like pizza, pasta, pudding, chips, chocolate is some items that nowadays both children and adult prefer. Eating junk food leads to many health problems as junk food is low in nutrients & high in sugar and salt. I allow only one meal of junk food in a week that also I prefer cooking at home and try to find healthy substitutes for various unhealthy items present in junk food served outside.
5. Mandatory intake of seasonal Fruit and Veggies-Most of the kids prefer chocolate diets like chocolate shakes, chocolate milk, Choco chip, muffins, pancakes, etc. to fruits and vegetables. It is a challenge for most parents to find fruits and vegetables that their kids can eat. I ensure my kids eat two servings of veggies and two servings of fruits in a day.
6. Regular weight Check: The problem of obesity is now common in children and adults. Overweight & obese kids face many serious issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and joint problems, etc. Kids can maintain an apt weight and get tall if they follow healthy food habits in their daily life. We regularly check the BMI (Body Mass Index) of everyone in the family.
7. Home-cooked food: Home-cooked healthy meals and snacks are essential to fuel their growing and active bodies. The food cooked at home is good for health as it is free from preservatives, food colour, or artificial ingredients. So I try to cook their favourite recipes at home, which is full of nutrients. Although on special occasions, I do get lenient on these rules and do order outside food. But this rarely happens.
8. Natural Supplements: Parents provide their kids with some multivitamin syrups to add nutrients that can boost their kids’ health. Though we can’t avoid such supplements in certain health conditions, we should try to give them natural supplements like flaxseed and chia as they are rich in fiber, Omega 3 to boost their immunity. I mix flax seeds and chia powder in wheat flour, so it goes into our body with our daily chapatis we eat
9. Snacks: In snacks, also I avoid dependency on packed foods items. Packed food items contain refined white flour, solid fat, sugar, and are high in sodium. I prefer making fresh snacks like Dhoklas, suji/ Besan/ Moong Chilas.
10. Better Presentation and Twisting taste of regular food: I like to cook daily meals in a fancy way so that it looks tempting to eat. The fancy-looking food, after a little twist in taste, enhances everyone’s appetite. Therefore, everyone in the family gets curious to try them.
11. Praying: We make this a habit of praying and thanking God before every meal. It is an unwritten rule followed by everyone not to make faces seeing the food served on the table. We should always be thankful to God and happily eat our meals.
12. Planning: I plan the whole week’s menu. Every day before sleeping, I make a note of things I have to do for the next days cooking. I prefer noting it down in my small pad Things to do. For the stating few days, noting down things to do for the next day looks like an added burden, but then gradually, you will feel you are more relaxed and doing things in a better way. This 5 minutes daily routine makes me more organized and sorted. 

Prevention and early interventions play a vital role in shaping kids eating habits for the future.

Healthy eating habits early in life develop healthy eating habits later in life.

So, analyze the food habits of your family today, find the areas of improvement, think about how you can improve on it, take tips from here and start today.

Following good food habits are tough. But not impossible. So, all the very best parents for a healthy start.