Family eating: How to be healthy

Preparing healthy food for your kids is increasingly challenging in time-pressed modern life.

But focusing on your children's health can perhaps help you eat better as a family.

Healthy food for kids

Healthy eating as a family is easier than you think. "It's about being a good role model," says Boots nutritionist Vicky Pennington.

Healthy eating in pregnancy

Pregnancy is a time when many mums to be take stock of their eating habits. This, Pennington says, is great.

"Pregnancy may be the trigger women need to look at their diet," Pennington says. "Other triggers can happen after birth, when you're seeking to lose the baby weight or feed your little one."

However, these healthy habits don't have to end as soon as your little one is weaned. In fact, as your children start to explore food for the first time, it might be just the chance to make healthy eating as a family a lifelong principle.

"You want your child to have the best start in life and these good habits can be adopted by the wider family as well," says Pennington.

Healthy weaning

Weaning, says Pennington, is the transition from a milk-only diet to family foods and can last until your child is one year of age. "It's all about tastes, textures and variety," she says. "That's why it's important to introduce your child to as wide a range of healthy foods as possible.

Healthy eating: How often should my child eat?

Ages one to five is a transitional period when you encourage healthy eating but also recognise children are growing and they need to eat little and often.

"A toddler isn't going to have just three meals a day. They can't sit still for that long!" says Pennington. "They need a healthy snack in between."

Healthy snacks for toddlers can include sticks of carrot, pepper, cucumber, banana, orange segments, rice cakes, toast, pitta, unsweetened yoghurt and small cubes of cheese.

Limit sugary snacks and salty snacks such as crisps. Avoid whole nuts, which can be a choking hazard. If you're concerned about allergies.

The current advice is it's fine to introduce peanuts and nut butters unless you or the baby has a history of allergies. If your baby has an allergy like eczema, asthma or hay fever, or you have a family history of allergies, you need to be particularly careful and speak to your GP before introducing peanuts into your child’s diet.

Healthy food for children: How much is a child's portion?

We all hear healthy eating messages about how important it is to eat five portions of fruit or vegetables a day. But how much is a portion - and how much is a child's portion?

"For adults, a portion is 80g - about a handful," says Pennington. "For children under five, a portion is more like 40g or a child-sized handful."