Processed food is one of the worst offenders when it comes to unhealthy food.
Most unhealthy fast food includes processed meat, unhealthy cheese, and foods with bad fats.

So, if you want to feed your kids healthy meals, food for kids needs to be free of snack junk food and should not include processed sugar. Also, when preparing a snack for toddlers, especially exclude ultra-processed sugar and foods with refined carbs.
HEALTHY FOOD VS JUNK FOOD

What is an UNHEALTHY DIET?
There is much confusion around what constitutes an unhealthy diet.
Commonly asked questions are…
- What’s the difference between healthy and unhealthy food?
- Why is saturated fat bad for you?
- What are unhealthy fats?
Children need to be taught the difference between unhealthy snacks and healthy snacks, as most snack junk food contains far too much processed sugar, sodium and unhealthy additives that are not good food for kids to eat.
Unhealthy food contains higher levels of unhealthy fats and can be harmful to a child’s health and wellbeing.
To avoid children eating last minute junk food meals, pre-packaged processed food and all the other unhealthy food children desire, following a simple ten step plan will help kids to overcome their unhealthy diet.
Follow these 10 successful strategies for overcoming a child’s unhealthy diet and develop healthy eating habits …..

10 TIPS TO HELP YOUR CHILD AVOID EATING UNHEALTHY FOOD
1 Plan meals ahead of time. Grill, poach, steam or slow-cook foods. You can cook a pot roast or light the BBQ. There are so many different ways to cook kids healthy meals and replace an unhealthy diet with a very healthy diet.

2 Create a regular well planned shopping list to overcome last minute unhealthy food buying. Always provide kids healthy snacks.
3 Give kids healthy meals using lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, garlic, ginger, turmeric… adding plenty of salad greens, legumes, cauliflower, broccoli, whole grain foods, nuts and seeds… always avoiding foods with unhealthy fats and all processed food.

4 Delight your child’s taste buds by presenting them with varied colorful fruit and vegie platters, replacing the usual unhealthy food snacks with healthy snacks. This can be a great snack for toddlers as well.
5 Educate children on how to read food labels, looking to avoid any food products that may have unhealthy food additives such as added high levels of sugar and sodium, that are not healthy foods for kids.
6 Children need to replenish their energy levels throughout the day so provide your kids healthy snacks.

7 Add probiotic food to your child’s diet. To overcome an unhealthy diet, probiotic foods feed the gut with good bacteria to help fight off disease. Natural Greek style yoghurt plus fermented foods such as Sauerkraut mix well with fruits and vegies.
8 Teach your child to cook at an early age so they can learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy food. They may experiment with different foods and create their own favourite “kids healthy meals” that all the family can also enjoy.

9 Replace unhealthy fats with healthy fats such as avocados, healthy nuts, extra virgin olive oil, plus oily fish such as sardines, salmon and tuna as these are essential food for kids to eat on a regular basis.

10 Kids’ healthy meals should always include adequate protein, such as fish, chicken, red meat, eggs, milk, cheese and legumes. Protein helps provide cell growth in children as well as maintaining healthy bones, muscles, hair and skin while fighting off diseases.

Other important tips for active kids…
1 Exercise is important to help children stay physically fit and healthy.
2 Children need to drink adequate water to stay hydrated and it’s vital for growing bodies to stay healthy for physical activity and concentration. Therefore, it’s important to avoid any processed sugar drinks and replace with adequate cool water to stay hydrated.
3 Providing healthy kids snacks includes making your own smoothies, using lots of fresh fruits and vegies, plus natural yoghurt. Healthy smoothies with probiotics are a great food for kids to enjoy.
5 Kids need adequate amounts of sleep to perform all the tasks required for growing children to stay fit and active.
Read more about breaking kids’ bad food habits