5 ways to Keep your Kids Off the Junk Food

Among the most worrisome issues concerning children is over-consumption of junk food. Junk food is a quick snack and ordinarily does not pose too much harm; however, if the consumption rate increases beyond anacceptable threshold, then it may pose serious risks to health. Kids, of all people, are most vulnerable since they are still growing and tend to develop anattachment to easily available and consumable items.

Dietary habits need to be regulated, but it is an uphill task to reduce intake of junk food in the contemporary period. So, what should we do?

5 ways to Keep your Kids Off the Junk Food

There are a number of things that could be done to deal effectively with this junk food problem, and here, in this article, we shall discuss five of them:

  1. Positive Modelling

Eating habits are most influenced by environmental and psychological circumstances. The general tactic employed by parents to handle this issue is through deterrence and highlighting the bad-effects of junk food, but this is not usually effective since the kid is aware that the entire world is consuming junk food and seemingly doing okay.

Positive modeling is a good alternative, if not an absolute fool-proof solution. It entails highlighting the benefits of healthy eating. As per this model, parents are required to motivate children to take up healthy dietary habits and reinforce their actions whenever they opt for healthy food over junk.

  1. Engage in healthy dietary habits

Mere words of motivation will only have anephemeral impact unless you couple them with self-induced dietary habits that is to say that you must engage in healthy food habits. If you encourage kids to eat healthy but yourself indulge in unhealthy food habits, then you will set forth a weak example before them.

Chalk out a comprehensive actionplan with the cooperation of other family members and ensure its enforceability. Do not be too rigid or too soft.

  1. Offer water

It often happens that kids get confused between thirst and hunger and would demand food at odd hours. If your kid makes such demands, motivate him/her to drink a glass of water. It is said that drinking water helps in reducing food cravings!

Water is the true solution to unnecessary cravings to which most of us have succumbed in the past!

  1. Avoid an extremely hungry child

It so happens that when children do not eat regularly they end up getting extremely hungry at times, luring them into consuming high-calorie food or junk food. To prevent this from happening, it is important that you feed your kid at regular intervals.

Extreme hunger results in stress, which may aggravate if the kid is incapable of coping with it. For that, it is recommended that you teach them Yoga or other forms of meditation to impart stress-management skills.

  1. Dry fruits and fruits

Children love sweet things and would not mind getting cranky to get them, and therefore, your biggest enemy of all junk food are chocolates, pastries, ice-creams and other sweets. To counter them, your weapon of choice should be fruits and dry fruits—make the best use of them.

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