Is your child obsessed with junk food? Nutritionist shares 5 easy and healthy swaps to break the habit

From involving them in cooking to making healthy swaps in their diet, here are a few ways to break junk food habit in kids.

Kids get swayed away by junk food too easily, and then it becomes challenging for the parents to introduce healthy eating to them. While, once in a while, junk food can be a treat for children, regular junk food consumption can have severe health complications. In an interview with HT Lifestyle Aman Puri, nutritionist and founder of Steadfast Nutrition said, “Children are usually fussy eaters who tend to gravitate towards fast food. Junk food habits aren’t easy to break especially when it comes to small kids to whom you can’t explain the reasons and side effects.”

Regular junk food consumption can have severe health complications in children.(Shutterstock)

The nutritionist further suggested a few dietary strategies that can help kids break their junk food habits:

1. Make foods appealing:

Make the eating process fun for kids by offering them foods that appeal to them - offer them coloured foods and those of varied shapes, sizes, and textures. Try innovative plating to make the food look more interesting.

2. Involve kids in cooking:

Letting small kids play around in the kitchen and perform tasks like washing vegetables, mixing ingredients, plucking leaves, dough shaping and moulding to develop their interest and learn and identify different new foods.

3. Take kids out for grocery shopping:

Engaging kids during a grocery shopping spree can help them learn and identify healthy foods. Challenge them the next time you go grocery shopping and let them pick a few of the healthy foods.

4. Keep healthy snacks ready:

Limiting the availability of junk foods at home and replacing these with plenty of healthy snacking options can help. Inaccessibility to junk foods can keep kids from developing a habit. Parents can allow junk food only when they are around or eating out occasionally.

Try these meal swaps for kids.(Shutterstock)

Check out these healthy swaps:

• Fruit juice with fruit platter: Instead of sugary juices make a colourful platter of different freshly sliced fruits. These contain loads of fibre and have a natural sweetness.
• Colas with lemon or coconut water: Swap carbonated beverages with vitamin C-rich fresh lemonade or coconut water to boost your child’s immunity and protect them from infections.
• Ice creams with fruit yoghurt: Opting for protein- and calcium-rich yoghurt with their favourite fruits blended into it can help manage their sweet cravings with lower calorie and fat content.
• Refined flour with whole wheat: If your kids consume too much bread or maida products, swapping it with whole wheat or multigrain is a good option. You can make their pizza healthier by switching over to a wheat base instead of the regular maida base.
• Chips with healthy snacks: Swapping those unhealthy chip packets with homemade popcorn, roasted makhana or chana can help control unhealthy intake of trans fats.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.