Does your child always throw tantrums at the dinning table? Does he always demand unhealthy foods? As a parent it must be tempting to give in to these tantrums once in a while, but what do you do if your child's fixation with junk food begins to take a toll on his health? With childhood obesity on the rise in India, it is cause for concern. Today. Dr. Shilpa Mittal - Nutritionist, Diet Consultant and Founder of Nutrilife Health Management, comes to your rescue and shares some healthy nutritious tips to keep your child healthy and fit…

1. Meal times should be fun and sociable occasions.
2. Have fixed eating times, say 6-7 meals/ day.
3. Introduce only one food at a time.
4. Be honest about what you are offering. 
5. Avoid feeding them with salty nibbles like waffers, chips, packaged foods. 
6. Avoid carbonated drinks.
7. Keep food separate from discipline – it should never be used as reward (chocolates), bribe or threat.
8. Eat with your child so that you set an example of healthy eating. 
9. Eat a variety of foods - the larger the variety of food the better is the nutritional intake of children. That’s because different foods provide different nutrients.
10. As important as nutrition may be, the presentation of food is what will draw your child to the table initially.
11. Make nutrition and exercise family priorities.
12. Connect exercise with activities kids already like to do.
13. Play games – for shopping and serving health foods. eg:- introduce an unusual fruit/ vegetable every week or designate a week as “red foods week” and let your kids select every healthy red food they like.

Getting your child to eat healthy also depends on what you are offering your kids. If you expose them to junk foods often, they will want to eat those foods more, so be very careful about convenient unhealthy fall-back foods like cookies, chips or instant noodles. 

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