Candy, cookies, pie, oh my! Many parents worry about their children’s eating habits over the holidays. But how can parents help their children’s diet over the holiday break without being a Scrooge?
Often parents want their children to eat more fruits and veggies and fewer sweets. But remember that candy is not poison (really!) unless a child has a medical condition like an allergy or intolerance. Limiting certain treats can actually make those treats more desirable — the opposite effect of what we are looking for! The best way to encourage less candy and sweets is to encourage other foods by setting up a routine and making those other foods fun.
If your child is generally a good eater, here are some tricks you can use to help your kids survive on more than sugar during the holiday season:
- Reduce candy as gifts. Encourage family members to get creative and show their love in things other than snacks. Small toys, fun water bottles or crafts can also make great stocking stuffers.
- Keep a schedule. Scheduled snacks and mealtimes help a child from grazing all day. Find activities that kids enjoy between mealtimes.
- Serve dessert with meals but do not limit. If a holiday meal is set up for self-serve, put out dessert along with the other foods. Do not make a big deal if a child selects more than one serving of dessert. Withholding the dessert may increase dessert cravings. The exception is if your kiddo needs controlled amounts of carbohydrates or fat due to specific medical conditions.
- Set out vegetables, fruit or nuts instead of candy. Holidays gatherings can change mealtime routines, and children may want to graze on food while waiting for meals. The smell of food cooking may cause them to circle the kitchen like snack sharks. Set out cut up fresh fruit and veggies while the meal is being prepped. Nuts, freeze-dried fruits and whole grain crackers are fun, crunchy snack ideas. Healthy, easy-to-eat foods placed at eye level for kids and with no pressure to try those foods create a higher chance of a child choosing to eat healthy foods on their own.
- Keep up hydration. Think of sweetened beverages as if they are candy or dessert, and limit intake to snack times. Between meals, have pitcher of cold water available. You can help flavor water with a small amount of juice or water flavoring. Fun water bottles can help, too! A good starting goal for many kids is 20 to 30 ounces of water along with 16 ounces of other fluids, like milk or milk alternatives), but check with your child’s doctor for specific fluid recommendations.
- Package up kid portions of leftover foods. Keep the healthy foods front and center, and let kids “snack” on leftovers. Dice up any leftover meats, fruits or veggies into bite-size pieces and divide into ½ cup portions in baggies. Keep at the front of the fridge for kids to grab at snack times. Even cooked green beans, peas or carrots can be served cold from the fridge — and sometimes switching up a “dinner fork food” to “snack finger foods” can make leftovers more fun! You can mark them with a fun sticker or name them something fun. Example: mark with a princess sticker and call them “princess snacks”
- Pick out goals. Let your kiddo come up with daily goals over the holiday break. It helps to encourage foods rather than restrict. Here’s an example goal list where kids can check off goals:
Every day:
Eat 2 different vegetables
Drink 3 bottles of water
Pick a “princess snack” at snacktime
What about kids with feeding difficulties?
The holidays can look very different for kids who have feeding difficulties. Your child’s food intake may be very limited, or they may have a condition that increases fear or rigidity around food. Here are a few ideas to help your child with feeding difficulties manage holiday meals:
- Bring their safe foods to meal gatherings. For many kids, changes in schedules and locations can be overwhelming. Food they know and enjoy can help keep overwhelming options down.
- Give friends or relatives a heads up. Often, relatives will give advice on how to encourage eating. While the advice may be well-intentioned (like the recommendations above), too many people focusing on your child’s eating may cause them to be more anxious. Setting the expectations before the gathering may help keep frustrating advice at bay.
- Prioritize calories if your child self-restricts. If you know your child will eat less than usual due to being overwhelmed at gatherings, do not feel guilty about providing easy-to-eat foods that are high in calories and prepackaged. Even if that snack is high in sugar and low in nutrients, providing calories can be the main goal when your child is struggling to eat in a new environment or routine.
- Prep now for any new foods. If you want your child to have more safe foods when traveling or at gatherings, do not wait until the trip or gathering to give them those foods. You can slowly start introducing a new food now when your child is in a comfortable environment. Consider matching the texture of the new food to your child’s safe foods. Examples: if your child likes crunchy foods, try dry cereal (multigrain cheerios are high in iron and fiber) or freeze-dried fruits like strawberries or bananas. Both come in packages which may help reduce your child’s anxiety since those packages will be recognizable.
- Do not try to hide or sneak food. Even though it may be tempting to get your child to try green beans by adding it to their mashed potatoes, hiding foods can cause more upset and anxiety. It also does not allow your child the chance to taste the food and is likely to make the child dislike their preferred food.
In the end, the best way to keep holidays enjoyable is to keep positive around food! As a parent or caregiver, your excitement and enjoyment around food can help influence others.