2.2. Describe ways to encourage children to eat healthily

This guide will help you answer 2.2. Describe ways to encourage children to eat healthily.

Supporting children in developing healthy eating habits is a key role for early years workers. Good nutrition helps children grow, supports their learning and can improve concentration, mood and energy. Early years settings can be positive places for children to learn about food, taste new things and develop confidence with eating.

Healthy eating is not just about the food offered. It is about how adults talk about food, the example they set and the experience children have at mealtimes. Involving children and making it fun can help them become more open to trying healthy foods and building balanced eating patterns.

Creating a Positive Mealtime Atmosphere

A calm and welcoming atmosphere makes children feel relaxed. When children feel comfortable, they are more willing to try foods they may not have eaten before. Adults can model positive behaviour and show enjoyment when eating healthy foods.

Ways to create a good atmosphere include:

• Sitting with children at the table and eating similar foods
• Encouraging conversation about taste, colour and texture without pressure
• Giving enough time for children to eat without rushing
• Avoiding distractions such as television at mealtimes

Using praise in a gentle way helps children feel confident. If a child tries a new food, a simple “that’s great you tasted it” can build their willingness to try again. Avoid forcing a child to eat, as this can create negative feelings about food.

Involving Children in Food Preparation

Children are more likely to eat food they help to prepare. Involving them in cooking or simple preparation tasks gives them a sense of control and interest. It also builds skills and knowledge about ingredients.

Examples of child-friendly preparation tasks:

• Washing vegetables and fruit
• Mixing ingredients
• Arranging foods on a plate
• Using child-safe knives to cut soft food under supervision

Cooking activities can be linked to learning. Talking about where food comes from, how it grows and what it looks like raw and cooked helps children understand it better. They are more open to eating food they have explored in a practical way.

Offering a Variety of Foods

Variety helps children get a wide range of nutrients. Offering different flavours, colours and textures can make food more appealing. This can reduce fussiness over time.

Suggestions for variety:

• Include different vegetables in meals over the week
• Offer a mix of raw and cooked vegetables
• Use seasonal produce when possible
• Change the way food is presented, such as cutting fruit into shapes

Some children are slow to accept new tastes. Repeating the offer of healthy foods in small amounts can help. Sometimes a child needs to see a food many times before they agree to taste it.

Using Fun and Creative Presentation

Presentation can make a big difference in how children feel about food. Bright colours and fun shapes are more inviting. Healthy foods can be presented in a playful way without turning meals into a game.

Ideas for creative presentation:

• Making fruit kebabs with different colours
• Arranging vegetables into a smiley face on a plate
• Using small cutters for sandwiches or melon
• Serving dips with chopped vegetables for children to try themselves

Such presentation can encourage children’s curiosity. When food looks interesting, they may take a bite without feeling any pressure.

Introducing New Foods Gradually

Sudden changes in diet can be overwhelming for children. Offering new foods slowly can help them feel safe and more likely to try. Pair a new food with a familiar favourite so they can explore it without feeling it replaces something they like.

Steps for gradual introduction:

• Start with a very small portion of the new food
• Offer it alongside a trusted food the child enjoys
• Allow them to touch and smell it before eating
• Keep offering it on different days without pushing them

Children often copy their peers. Seeing other children eat the new food can encourage them to taste it.

Encouraging Self-Serving

Letting children serve themselves gives them a sense of independence. They can choose portion sizes and try what interests them. This supports decision-making and can improve their willingness to add healthy items to their plate.

Ways to encourage self-serving:

• Provide child-sized utensils
• Use bowls or dishes in the centre of the table
• Allow them to pour water or milk into their own cups
• Guide them on safe handling of food

Self-serving often leads to children tasting more because they feel ownership of what is on their plate.

Educating About Healthy Eating

Teaching children simple facts about food can make them more willing to eat healthily. Avoid technical language. Use stories, games and visual aids to make it fun.

Ideas for food education:

• Read books about fruit and vegetables
• Use pictures to show which foods help with energy, strong bones or healthy teeth
• Talk about “everyday foods” and “sometimes foods” rather than labelling foods as “good” or “bad”
• Create sorting games with pictures of food

Keeping the information simple and positive helps children feel motivated rather than judged.

Linking Healthy Eating to Themes and Activities

Early years learning often uses themes. Healthy eating can be linked to topics the children already enjoy. This can make food activities more engaging.

Examples:

• A “garden week” with planting seeds and eating fresh salad leaves
• An “orange day” with carrots, oranges and sweet potatoes
• Linking food to stories, such as eating porridge after reading Goldilocks
• Celebrating cultural events with traditional healthy dishes

This approach makes food part of a wider experience, which helps children form positive links in their minds.

Working With Families

Healthy eating is more effective when settings and families work together. Sharing ideas and recipes can help parents bring healthy habits into the home.

Ways to involve families:

• Send home recipes for easy healthy snacks
• Give updates about new foods children have enjoyed
• Invite parents to share a healthy dish from their culture
• Hold tasting sessions for parents

Consistent messages between home and setting support children’s learning and habits.

Role Modelling by Adults

Children observe and copy adult behaviour. If staff eat a variety of healthy foods and talk positively about them, children are more likely to do the same.

Good role modelling tips:

• Eat similar healthy foods in front of children
• Avoid showing dislike for certain foods when children are present
• Talk about taste and texture in an upbeat way
• Show enjoyment when drinking water instead of sugary drinks

Adults should remember that their own attitude to food sends strong messages.

Reducing Sugary and Processed Foods in the Setting

Offering fewer high-sugar or heavily processed foods can help children focus on healthier items. Replacing these with enjoyable, healthier options keeps the environment positive.

Suggestions:

• Offer fruit or yoghurt instead of cake for celebrations
• Use natural flavourings like herbs and spices
• Avoid fruit juice as a daily drink, offer water or milk instead
• Choose wholemeal breads or pasta where possible

Shifts to healthier options should be explained gently to children, so they understand it is about feeling good and being strong.

Encouraging Water Intake

Hydration is part of healthy eating. Water is the best drink for children. Settings can encourage water drinking through availability and positive reinforcement.

Techniques:

• Let children have access to water throughout the day
• Use child-friendly cups and bottles
• Have small water breaks during activities
• Praise children for choosing water over sweet drinks

Children who drink enough water may have better focus during play and learning.

Using Positive Language Around Food

Words affect how children view food. The way adults talk about healthy foods should be inviting and appealing.

Helpful language ideas:

• Describe food with sensory terms like “crunchy carrots” or “sweet peas”
• Talk about energy and play benefits such as “this helps you run fast”
• Avoid negative statements like “you must eat this”
• Encourage curiosity by asking “what does this taste like to you?”

Positive language allows children to explore food without feeling pressured.

Final Thoughts

Helping children eat healthily in early years settings means combining many small actions. It is about offering varied healthy foods, making mealtime pleasant and involving children in the whole process. When children feel included and respected, they are more willing to taste new things.

Healthy eating habits formed early can stay with children as they grow. With patience, creativity and consistent encouragement, workers in early years can make a real difference to how children see food. This benefits their long-term health and supports their learning and development.