Diabetes mellitus itself is a metabolic disease characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) due to a lack of insulin in the body.
Children with diabetes can typically be identified by several clinical symptoms. The symptoms include drastic weight loss despite eating a lot, frequent urination, and bedwetting habit that continues past the age of five years old.
In addition to the symptoms above, you also need to pay attention to whether your child is easily tired, has fungal infections, slow healing wounds, blurred vision, itchy and dry skin, and often feel pins and needles in their legs.
If left unchecked, the disease not only has the potential to affect the development of your child but can also cause short and long term complications.
Therefore, reduce or stop the habit of taking feeding your child to with junk food restaurants or giving them snacks or sugary drinks that comes in packages. Try making your own or choosing healthier foods.
But how to teach your child the habit of eating healthy food and enjoying them? Consider the following tips.
Play with colors Color Combination
Different colors mean different amounts of nutrients contained in fruits and vegetables. To meet the nutritional needs of your child, make sure to provide a variety of fruits and vegetables in various colors every day.
In addition, playing with colors can be a fun way for your child to love fruits and vegetables. Don't forget to choose fruits or vegetables with a sweet taste. For vegetable dishes, try serving them with a dip of cheese sauce or mayonnaise to add flavor.
Encourage your child to do physical activities
Try encouraging your child to play or do physical activities that consume a lot of energy, such as swimming, jumping rope, playing tags, or trying out rides in the park. Such activities will help make your child feel hungry.
As their appetite increase, they will be less picky and will eat any food in front of them.
Change the presentation
Changing the presentation doesn’t just mean making a dish look more attractive, but also changing the shape, texture, and taste.
You can try making meatballs or nuggets with a mixture of meat and various vegetables. Once your child gets used to it, try increasing the portion of vegetables and reducing the meat little by little.
For snacks, you can serve carrot cake, banana bread, or fruit popsicle. One thing to keep in mind when making fruit-based snacks is the sugar level. Because fruit contains natural sugars, you have to pay attention to the type of fruit and the appropriate amount while also reduce the use of additional sweetener.
Fewer portions, more mealtimes
Avoid forcing children to finish their food because it will only cause stress. If they think of mealtimes as something unpleasant, their appetite will decrease.
Instead of serving one full plate, you can reduce the portion and increase the number of meals in a day. That way, your child can have an easier time finishing them.
Easy and fun, right? Good luck in making your child eat healthier!