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Nutrition For Kids: How to Get Kids to Eat Those Veggies

Providing good nutrition for kids today is a tough act to follow!

If your a parent, like I am, then you know how important good nutrition for kids really is. You also know that saying it, is easier than doing it.

There are too many food choices today. And you have way too much competition from the food manufacturers, the advertising media, the fast food industry, and the snack and candy industries.

Their relentless and clever marketing is a dominant influence on kids...And of course what they choose to eat.

On top of that, we live a much more stressful life, with what seems to be very little time for ourselves, let alone the thought of trying to plan and cook nutritious food. Proper nutrition for kids is a tough act to follow!

A recent article published by Brazos Minshew, Chief Science Officer for Trivita, discusses a disturbing trend occurring in the United States.*

The article states "For the first time in recorded history, children born in North America today are not expected to live as long or as well as their parents."

What is going on?

Well, with all the advances in food technology, and processing, and modern farming practices, the food we buy and consume is generally nutrient dead. It's just getting harder to provide proper nutrition for kids.

The article further cites research showing outlining the effects of our poor nutrition. "The root of poor nutrition has erupted into obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases...A body deprived of nutrients will be prone to disease, disability and untimely death.

*source; Trivia's Weekly Wellness Report, 01/16/2010

USDA Food Plate

What can you do?

It would be nice and easy to farm this out to, say, our schools. There should be a class called "kids on nutrition 101"

In reality, healthy food choices begin at home.

If your ready to make a choice, read on. You can say "it's time to put my kids on a nutrition bandwagon!"

That means you will begin the process of phasing out poor foods, and substituting nutrient dense foods. So, let's keep this simple and hopefully somewhat painless.

There are thousands of books and nutrition article for kids written every year. It's hard to know where to turn. But the USDA has probably has some of the best nutrition facts for kids. Click here for more information. This information is general in nature. It's also very objective, and because of that, it's deemed reliable.

What's next? Well, you now know what foods you should eat and which ones to avoid, at least you've started to learn. Don't feel bad, this is not going to happen overnight for most of us, unless you get picked to be on "The Biggest Loser Show".

Nutrition for kids is going to be the same for nutrition for adults. You'll want to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and foods rich in proteins, while cutting out sugars and saturated fats.

When selecting foods to buy, it is going to be important to look for foods grown in natural, organic farming practices. Typically, these are void of chemicals, and are grown in nutrient dense soils. kids nutrition

How To Get Your Kids To Eat All Those Nutrient Dense Foods.



I like the commercial on TV showing the husband reading the label on the spaghetti sauce jar, and he's just about to spill the beans on the ingredients.

His child is sitting there gulping down a plate of spaghetti.

He's about to say how the sauce is full of vegetables, and his wife starts banging the pans, looks at him with a "shut up you idiot" gesture.

The premise of this story is, his child would not eat the sauce if he knew what was in it. The illusion works...You simply need to incorporate the foods your kids won't eat into foods they will eat.

It's probably safe to say that most kids will eats sweets. If you haven't already tried making fruit smoothies, here's your chance to explore this avenue.

This site, The Smoothie Insider was created with the notion that there is so much more to smoothies that just a sugary, sweet shake. You will find that making smoothies is truly a nutritional powerhouse.

It's also a fast and convenient way to get the recommended daily servings of fruit, and vegetables that you need.

We invite you to explore this site, and in particular the green smoothie section. Here you can learn how to make green smoothies, by adding small amounts of vegetables to your fruit smoothies.

Another key feature of making smoothies is the subject of bio availability, be sure to see this short movie.

Bio Availability refers to the concept of how much nutrition you get out of the food you eat or drink. In other words, how efficiently do you absorb the nutrients from food.

This concept alone will convince you of just how powerful drinking smoothies is when it comes to nutrition.

The important thing to remember is you are not alone in your quest for better health. Better nutrition for kids is really a matter of making better food choices...

...and making your own homemade fruit smoothies is a key way to start the process!

Drink Smoothies for Your Health, and For Your Life!

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