Junk food, peer pressure, and general fussy eating can make it hard to get your children to eat well. When fries and burgers taste so good, why would they want to have a carrot and lentil stew? As parents, we can be busy too, which can make it even more tempting to reach for the convenience foods. Having a healthy diet is something that really can have a profound effect on the health of our children, as well as helping them to maintain a healthy weight, stabilise moods, keep their minds sharp, and give them the energy that they need.

But what can be done? If you have children that just love to eat beige foods, then switching to healthier options can be done (although a meal straight from the freezer can be very welcome, from time to time). The sooner that you introduce them to some more nutritious choices, the sooner that they will be able to establish a good relationship with food and stop seeing good food as being a punishment, and unhealthy food as being a treat. One simple way to make this swap is to introduce delicious meat free Monday recipes.

Here are our pointers on how to make healthy eating easier for children…

Focus on their overall diet, rather than just on specific foods. This is because children should be eating food that is as little processed as possible, and as close to its natural form as possible. Don’t just focus in on getting them to eat broccoli or carrots, but rather, think about everything that they eat being more natural (porridge over processed and sugary breakfast cereals, for example).

If you are someone who eats a lot of junk food, doesn’t serve veggies, and gets takeout more often than not, then can you be surprised when your children are the same way? As parents, we need to lead by example. If we want them to eat more vegetables, then make sure we’re chowing down on carrot sticks instead of a packet of crisps as well.

It can be tricky to get children to eat certain foods, but there are some good ways to disguise those flavours, so they still get the nutritional benefit. For example, carrots can be mashed in with sweet potatoes, and spinach can be blended into a smoothie. Have peanut butter with apple slices and dates, for example. You could check out Kurbo Reviews for other healthy food ideas, but generally, you will know what is going to work best with your children.

Cooking from scratch is a great way to get children to eat better. They can also be part of the preparation process, making them much more likely to want to try the foods that they have helped to prepare. Plus, if you cook things in big batches, it means you’ll have leftovers and options to put in the freezer, making healthy meal choices easier on busy days.

Make sure that you have healthy snacks available. Kids will eat crisps and biscuits if they are there, but they won't if they aren’t. Have fruits and veggies available, as well as things like breadsticks and rice cakes.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.