Parenting: Child nutrition, tips and tricks in the right direction.

Portion sizes are getting bigger, sugar levels are growing higher and the fight for healthier produce vs. processed food continues. Child nutrition is one of the biggest every day challenges parents face.

Photo by Matt Schwartz on Unsplash

1-in-4 children in Ireland are now obese @safefood.eu, and over 85,000 children on the island of Ireland will die prematurely because of childhood obesity #Irishtimes #SafefoodIreland. Ireland is on track to being one of the most obese nations in Europe. Childhood nutrition is critical to set a solid groundwork for children to make better lifestyle choices.

The task of keeping the family on track with their nutrition can sometimes be an overwhelming challenge. The relentless hunt for what to make at meal times, fending off the temptations of sugary snacks, where do you start?

The trick is to #makeastart. Government initiatives such as @makeastart.ie or @bordbia and other blogs like U.S. based @Parenting.com provide nuggets (excuse the pun!) of information, tips and short, snappy ideas to defuse the headaches of looking for quick, easy and healthy recipes. Educating yourself and your family is fundamental in tackling healthy eating head on.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Other user friendly tracking tools like @JingaLife or food charts provided on @makeastart.ie also help to create goal and rewards systems for all family members by monitoring and improving personal activity and the intake of healthy or unhealthy food and drinks.

Taking control as a family, knocking bad habits on the head from an early age, and warning against the dangers of sugar fuelled diets count as taking small steps in the right direction. These steps help to win those crucial daily battles to set the standards needed to tackle bad childhood nutrition and the rising problems with obesity.