Stacey Seybold Hiller, M.S., CCC-SLP is an industry expert in speech, language and feeding skills in children.
It’s time for a new year… time to start your family eating healthy! A few small changes now can make a big difference in the years ahead!
If you are like most people, after the holidays are over, you start to rethink your diet and exercise (or lack thereof). It is harder than ever to keep your children eating healthy. Many foods marketed for children are high in sugar and fat and low in fiber and protein. Even many choices for kids at restaurants and schools fit into this category. The worst culprit is processed foods. These foods tend to be high in fat, sodium, and calories. But, how can you get your family eating better? Try to have more home-cooked meals. Easier said than done, but you have many options now.
There are many meal preparation businesses, like Dream Dinners, that are out there to help you do just that. You can help your kids make good snacking choices by having cut vegetables and fruit available on the counter. Make these choices easily accessible and convenient to them. Go ahead and add peanut butter or cream cheese to the celery. Put broccoli in the food processor, and add the finely chopped broccoli to food items like meatloaf or hamburgers. Most children won’t even notice. Other “sneaky” add-ins are wheat germ (for fiber and protein), powdered milk (for added calcium), and tofu. These products can all be added fairly easily to a variety of foods, and they are not easily detected.
Eating healthy is really a lifelong process, not just something you do overnight. Begin to slowly implement products like breads and pastas with whole grains into your family’s diet. Any healthy diet change you can bring to your family will be beneficial!
Stacey Seybold Hiller has practiced pediatric speech pathology for more than 18 years. Both she and her husband felt they were ready for a career change, so they recently opened Dream Dinners in Indianapolis with a partner. Now she can further her passion for healthy family meals around the table at home!