Eating During The Winter Break

Many families abandon their usual good-eating routines when busy schedules and cold weather hit. While eating well during the holidays filled with treats may be difficult, maintaining a healthy eating plan and wholesome diet will protect your children from seasonal weight gain, energy slumps and sickness. 



With kids out of school and time spent shopping, parents don?t always have the time to attend to healthy meal planning or preparing. Fast foods, foods high in calories, rich in sugar, fats or processed additives often replace usual fare.



However, there are numerous ways to keep your kids slim, happy and healthy this season. Begin with keeping to regular mealtimes. Try to stick to lunch and snack hours as much as possible. Pangs of hunger or eating when not hungry will only encourage poor food choices and over-eating.

Use winter break time to experiment with elaborate recipes for stews, soups, curry, chili, and homemade pasta. Forgo the usual quick and processed meal options and involve the kids in preparing meals from scratch. Refer to your vegetable-of-the month calendar and try foods packed with seasonal-specific nutrients.



When the weather is colder, a child?s appetite typically increases because their bodies require extra calories to stay warm. Build meals around fresh, warm and vitamin-enriched foods that will protect your child from sickness and keep up his energy. Avoid cold foods or drinks that make the body work too hard to digest and leave little energy for non-eating activities.



Your shopping list should include foods like bananas, carrots, lentils, tuna, wholegrain flour and sunflower seeds that will boost your child?s immune system. Root vegetables like carrots and beets are excellent food choices for side dishes and soup fillers. Poor nutrition is the most common cause of a weakened immune system. Try eating more seafood, eggs, turkey, and pumpkin seeds. Crabmeat contains zinc that is essential for developing white blood cells that fight off bacteria and viruses. While serving steak every night for dinner is not a wise option, lean cuts of poultry, pork, and beef will increase levels of zinc.



Instead of merely supplementing your child?s diet with vitamin C tablets, reach for orange foods. Sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, and oranges are all high in beta carotene, vitamin C and vitamin A. Other natural sources of essential antioxidants include kiwi fruit, Chinese cabbage and avocado.



Load up on fish rich in omega-3, such as salmon and tuna. Fish provides nourishing protein, vitamin B6 and B12, which are necessary for healthy brain development, the production of antibodies to fight infection and stress reduction. Essential fatty acids or good oils found in olive oil, avocado and walnuts will keep skin and hair nourished and prevent chapping. Remember to drink lots of water. It?s easy to forget since it?s so cold, but proper hydration will keep your child?s body functioning normally.



Don't starve the kids before a dinner party. Give them a small snack before heading out. An apple or whole-wheat toast with peanut butter will satiate them enough without ruining their appetite. Once at the party watch what and how much your child eats. Help him avoid a tummy ache or a restless night as a result of eating too much cake and cookies.



Yes it?s cold outside, and while it may be easy to order out or visit MacDonald?s, be good to your body, go the extra distance and feed yourself and children nourishing foods.