#ChobaniKids: National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month and to celebrate I am sharing some ideas to encourage children to get the proper nutrition and live a healthy lifestyle.

“National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.  The theme for 2015 is “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle,” which encourages everyone to adopt eating and physical activity plans that are focused on consuming fewer calories, making informed food choices and getting daily exercise in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of chronic disease and promote overall health.”- National Nutrition Month

Griffin is now 11 months and he has been a picky eater since around 9 months.   Feeding him was frustrating and it was difficult at time not to just give in and give him puffs when he didn’t want to eat anything.  Instead of getting frustrated I have been using some of these tips.

Tip 1: Offer a variety of food and allow your child to eat the rainbow.

Sometimes Griffin has no desire to eat any food, so when this happens, I mix up a smoothie full of spinach, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, a small handful of dried oats, kale, Chobani Kids Yogurt, and a little water.  This insures that he is getting the nutrition he needs and also eating a variety of different foods.

 

Tip 2: Plan ahead and then have extra.

Feeding time can be super frustrating when you have a picky eater.  Planning ahead has allowed me to be less frustrated and frazzled and I strongly believe that Griffin can sense that I am calmer.  Having planned meals (with a variety) is awesome too for the family on the go.  We are constantly in and out during the day and having planned meals already prepared and in the fridge, allows me to grab and go. 

Tip 3: Eat outside.

My son is a true outdoors man.  He gets it from his Dada.  He is so happy being able to get outside and we bring our dinner outside a lot of nights.   Eating outside provides for a happy meal time, less mess to clean up, and a little Vitamin D.  It also allows for nightly walks around the house for a little exercise.

Tip 4: Get Moving.

Griffin started walking right at 10 months.  He is 100% mobile and is constantly on the go.  With him being so mobile, it has offered us several opportunities to get moving. If we are inside, his Daddy and I are constantly running after him.  We spend a lot of time outside now that the weather is warming up and we are taking more trips to the park.   The best thing about your child being able to walk is that it gets the whole family moving.

 

Tip 5: Offer healthy snacks.

Offering healthy snacks in between meals allows for your children to develop a “taste” for the good stuff.  We do offer Griffin some teething biscuits and puffs but his favorite is yogurt.  I love being able to give him something healthy as well as something he likes.  My favorite thing about yogurt is being able to give him some probiotics in his diet.  Win, win for this Mama. 
 

Tip 6: Kids do as you do.

Children learn early and have a tendency to mimic the parents.  Griffin really watches us and as parents, we have to be a role model for being active and eating healthy.

These are just a few tips on how to have a healthy diet and lifestyle with your children.   The reality is that most toddlers are picky eaters.  They may love something one day and hate it the very next.  Food preferences are started early.    

We have really enjoyed the Chobani Kids Yogurt.  Griffin has oatmeal every morning and we have started topping it with the strawberry Chobani Greek Yogurt for kids.  He loves it!

 

 

Providing your child with a healthy diet also allows you to eat healthier as well.  I am more aware of what I am cooking and what I add to the meals.  Since Griffin is eating a lot of what we eat I am making healthier choices myself.  Griffin is also teaching me to love being outside more too!

 

Chobani Yogurt offers a conversion chart for cooking too.  A little bit of change in your cooking could lead to a bigger change in how healthy you are and feel.

 

 

 

Disclaimer:

A Chobani Yogurt representative asked me to participate in the #ChobaniKids National Nutrition Month. I was not compensated for this post nor was I issued free products.  All opinions are my own.