Tips For Maintaining a Balanced Diet for Kids

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by Renae Chiovaro on March 22, 2012

Diet.

It is a four letter word!

I know that we all struggle with maintaining a balanced diet. We strive to provide healthy and nutritious food for our children. In fact I have been on a big health kick recently wanting to rid our pantry of boxed meals and do more home cooking. Let’s get real though, I still have cravings which result in consuming a brownie (like I am eating now as I type!) or a handful of salty chips.

I am a believer of everything in moderation. We do not have dessert every night. Plus I always make sure we have fruits and vegetables with our meals.

Some tips to help kids maintain a balanced diet:

  • Offer a variety of foods. I am lucky that my boys are not very picky. I often encourage them to try something new and we make it into a task for the whole family. Remember that it can take several times of introducing something new to a child for them to like it.
  • Be a model. If you want your kids to eat healthy, you should eat healthy too!
  • Encourage your children to help in meal preparation. I find that if my boys help, they are more likely to try it.
  • Plant a vegetable garden. We have had a vegetable garden ever since my boys were born. They enjoys helping plant the seeds and plants and watching the progress. When my oldest was 4 he told me “Mom isn’t it so great that we can grow the food we eat?” I just love that!
  • Get into the habit at reading food labels and ingredients as another way to maintain a balanced diet. Try to avoid foods with artificial ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, preservatives and nitrates.

Tyson has the Get A Smile Give A Smile promotion going on right now. Get a Smile by uploading a picture of your adorable kiddo enjoying a Tyson nugget for a chance to win. Tyson is Participating in Give a Smile by donating 4 millions meals to hungry families!

Thanks to Tyson’s 100% All Natural Chicken Nuggets, now you don’t have to choose between making your kids happy and feeding them balanced meals.

But I’m curious, how do you ensure your child maintains a balanced diet? Join the conversation and Tyson will select a winner and donate $500 in the winner’s name to a local food bank!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Nuggets. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.

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