Healthy Eating: How to Teach Teens Healthy Eating Habits

by Robin Greene on February 19th, 2019 | 1 Comment »

Teaching kids to make healthy eating choices can be tough; just try enticing your teen with a carrot stick or broccoli florets. YUCK and NO WAY! Healthy snacks are not cool. They would rather grab fast food out. So how can we encourage our teens to eat healthy?

How to Teach Teens Healthy Eating Habits

Take a trip to the grocery store. Let them pick out fruits and veggies they will eat.
Have fruits and vegetables your kids like rinsed and ready to eat. (We always have a bowls of grapes, strawberries and celery in the refrigerator.)
Have regular family meals. Eating around the same time every day offers stability and ensures everyone gets a nutritious meal. Breakfast is also a great time to offer the kids something healthy to eat.
Fruit smoothies are a big hit and great for a quick breakfast or afternoon snack.
Cut down on sugar but do not rule it out completely. Have foods available that are naturally sweet instead.
When you are eating fast food on the go, encourage grilled chicken instead of a hamburger.
Tell them why eating healthy is good for them—“It will give you brain power to do well on the test” or “Milk helps your body grow stronger.”
Do not take away the snacks your child loves, substitute them. Try frozen yogurt for ice cream, pretzels for potato chips, vanilla wafers for chocolate chip cookies and bagels instead of doughnuts.

If your teen is an athlete, involved in clubs or other extra curricular activities, you know how busy they can get. My teen often leaves before anyone else in the morning and does not get home until late evening on school nights. I encourage him to eat breakfast and take a healthy snack. Not skipping out on meals is also very important for your growing teen!

How do you get your teenagers to eat healthier?

Robin Greene is a kindergarten teacher and a busy mom of two teenagers. Eating healthy is a hard task, but they are learning together. In between going to her son’s baseball games and her daughter’s dance lessons and recitals Robin enjoys writing for mybabyclothes.com where you can find the best selection of unique baby clothes, dashing baby hats and gorgeous baby headbands.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.