Healthy Eating for Kids: Expert Tips to Help Them Eat Better

Good nutrition is essential for a child’s growth, development, and overall well-being. Encouraging a variety of healthy options in your child’s diet promotes a strong body and mind and supplies the energy needed to do all the fun things they want to do. These options include fruits, vegetables, proteins, healthy fats, and whole grains.

However, simply telling your kids to eat their vegetables before they can have dessert, while well-intentioned, is not always the most effective strategy. Instead, it’s important to make healthy eating enjoyable for kids, so they have a positive experience and develop healthy habits for life. The good news is that you have the power to bring fun back into the kitchen with your child, which will naturally encourage healthy eating for kids.

Keep reading to learn ways to encourage healthy eating habits for kids and make healthy eating fun, whether it’s the middle of winter or your kids are getting back to school.

Why is Healthy Eating Important for Kids?

Healthy eating habits are crucial for kids at any age, and here are a few key reasons why.

Provides optimal energy

Steady energy is essential for active kids, and good nutrition supports this in every way. ^[1]A balanced diet provides a variety of nutrients to fuel your child, preventing crashes from too much sugar or ultra-processed foods like soda, juice, and packaged chips and baked goods.^[2]

Improves focus

We live in a world of constant distractions and technology, making it harder than ever for our children to focus. Nutritious foods not only supply physical energy but also boost brain energy and focus, enabling children to perform their best at school. Research shows that eating a nutrient-rich diet, especially a nutritious breakfast, is linked to improved attention, memory, and classroom performance in school-aged children.^[3]

As a registered dietitian with two school-aged boys, I've noticed a significant difference in their focus (and their overall mood) when they have a balanced meal. They are more motivated and can maintain their focus longer while doing homework and other activities.

Supports mental health

Eating a more nutritious diet is associated with better mental health and overall happiness in adults and children alike.^[4] And while research in this area is still ongoing, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that healthy diet education should be part of mental health prevention efforts.^[5]

On the contrary, studies show that kids who regularly eat a Western-style diet — low in nutrients and high in added sugar — are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. ^[6]While it’s not yet clear if children who have depression and anxiety are more likely to eat poorly, researchers suspect it is more likely that the diet habits are increasing the risk for these conditions rather than the other way around.

Proper growth and development

Eating enough key nutrients like protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins is essential for bone health, brain development, and overall physical growth. The benefits of a nutritious diet do not happen overnight; however, research shows it can take at least six months of consistency to show obvious improvements in growth and development.

This doesn’t mean your child’s diet has to be perfect every single day; it just means that the easier you can make it for your child (and yourself) to eat healthy, the easier it will be for them to build consistent healthy eating habits.

If you’re not sure where to start, start with this infographic from Harvard, which illustrates how to build a healthy children’s plate.

How to Build Healthy Eating Habits for Kids

Building healthy eating for kids doesn’t have to drain your energy; it just takes a bit of creativity and patience. Here are a few easy tips to start to get your creative juices flowing.

Get the kids involved

It’s easy to get into a routine of prepping alone to get things done faster (I have been guilty of this), but it’s important to get your child into the kitchen with you. Whether it’s simply washing veggies, mixing ingredients, or helping pack their lunchbox, these tasks increase their comfort in food prep and curiosity to try new foods.

When kids have a role in preparing meals, they may feel more invested in eating them, and it teaches them valuable life skills as well.

Make it fun

Turn healthy eating into an activity rather than a chore. Try creating colorful “snack boards,” making smoothies together, or encouraging your child to build their own wrap or taco with nutritious fillings.

Create a positive experience

Keep mealtimes stress-free by avoiding pressure or bribery to eat certain foods. For example, try to avoid the common phrase, “I’ll give you dessert if you eat one more bite,” which can create a habit of food rewarding into adulthood^[7]. Instead, try to celebrate small wins when your child tries something new or even smells and touches it.

Bottom line, keep offering the food on their plate that you want your child to try, but try not to pressure them to eat it.

Eat as a family when possible

While this is not always easy with busy schedules and activities, try your best to eat meals together whenever possible. Research shows that eating more family meals is associated with better nutrient intake in children,^[8] and it also offers an opportunity to connect with your child during an otherwise fast-paced day.

Although it may not always be dinner, eating together at breakfast also provides an opportunity to connect and mirror healthy eating habits.

Offer a variety of healthy options

Offering a mix of fruits, veggies, proteins, and whole grains may encourage balanced eating. Presenting foods in different colors and textures may make meals more appealing and help kids explore new flavors.^[9]

A good rule of thumb is to present foods from at least three food groups at every meal and at least two at each snack to promote balance.

Lead by example

Demonstrate to your child what healthy eating looks like by practicing it yourself. Parental eating habits are one of the most dominant determinants of children's eating habits.^[10]

In addition, keep healthy options visible in your kitchen, such as leaving freshly washed fruit in a fruit basket, or cut up veggies for snacks in clear containers in the refrigerator, which makes it easier for your child to choose these options when hunger strikes.

Give them options

Kids love having a sense of choice in all aspects of their lives, including with their food. Let them choose between two healthy snacks for their lunchbox or decide which fruit to add to their morning smoothie, helping them feel more empowered and open to eating nutritious foods.^[11] This can be especially helpful when they are first going back to school, where they have a clear choice on what to bring for lunch or a snack.

If you want your child to eat more fruit, for example, offer them two or three options you want them to try, giving them autonomy. They will be eating fruit no matter what option they choose, so it’s a win-win for both of you!

Continued exposure

One of the quirkiest (and most encouraging) insights from child nutrition psychology is that kids often need to be exposed to a new food multiple times before they accept it. Offering infants and toddlers (ages 4–24 months) a single fruit or vegetable once a day for 8–10 days or more was likely to increase acceptability.^[12]

The key is gentle persistence without pressure. Over time, the repeated exposure helps children move from suspicion to curiosity to acceptance, making healthy foods a normal and enjoyable part of their diet.

Create a fun shopping list

Create a fun grocery shopping list to use with your kids, or use a healthy list already created, like this one from UCDAVIS Health that includes key nutrients and foods to choose from. This takes the guesswork out of healthy eating for your child.

Don’t blame yourself (or them)

If your child refuses broccoli or pushes peas to the edge of their plate, you’re not alone, and it’s not your fault. Large twin studies show that food fussiness is heavily influenced by genetics, accounting for as much as 60–80% of picky eating behaviors between toddlerhood and early adolescence.^[13]

Wrapping It Up

Raising healthy eaters is not about perfection; it’s about creating positive, lasting healthy eating habits for kids that they enjoy. By involving them in the kitchen, offering variety, and leading by example, you’re laying the foundation for lifelong health.