Some Fun Ideas to Encourage Healthy Eating

When I came back from Japan years ago I had some major health issues that no one could seem to help me with. I went to over ten doctors and usually came back home with a bag of prescription pills. This was not how I wanted to live my life and start each day with a handful of pills! Fortunately, I met a nutritionist at a Natural Products Expo, where the Japanese company I was working for was exhibiting (I sold medicinal mushrooms – but that is another story). Turns out, after an hour consultation and analysis — he was was able to give me an explanation about what was going on and how to get better. Apparently, while living abroad in Japan and biking through Vietnam (another story as well), I had contracted Tropical Sprue! After taking his supplements and advice, six months later I had my health back and that sent me on the road to study nutrition. One of the reasons I decided to get my masters in nutrition is because I wanted to be able to make some good choices for myself and my family.

Fast forward to present day, and my six year old would eat a piece of candy or some other sweet every day if we let her. This past Halloween I didn’t monitor how much candy she ate at our neighborhood party. I did this for two reasons: 1) I wanted to see if she could self-monitor and 2) I don’t really want to be that parent who doesn’t let her kid eat any sweets – especially at Halloween! Well, turns out she later told me that she ate so much candy she threw up in the bushes. I asked her if she stopped eating candy then and her reply was “No! I ate much more.” Sigh. The art of juggling between teaching our kids to make good food choices and monitoring the amount of sweets they eat takes some finesse. In my household, raising a kid who has a major sweet tooth is challenging most days.

Food as Art:

One of the things I try to do as a parent is make food fun! I hope by demonstrating that healthy food can be fun – she will turn less to sweets and more to colorful foods! However, Instagram Queen, Idafrosk, brings it to another level altogether! I came across her work through another creative site, Handmade Charlotte, and feel in love with her “food as art” ideas. I think if you (and I) dish a few of these ideas a week to our kids – no one can say you didn’t try to associate healthy foods and fun.

Here are some of my favorites: