How grandparents can champion healthy eating for the grandkids!

 

With more parents wanting to go back to work and formal childcare becoming less and less affordable, families are increasingly relying upon grandparents to help out.

By Michelle Jongenelis, Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change

In fact, grandparents are now the most important source of childcare in Australia and around the world. 

But when it comes to what kids are eating, how important is the role grandparents play?

The answer to this question is clear, grandparents play a very important role! Let's discuss this a little further... 

In a previous study by Curtin University, researchers found that over 80% of grandparents feed their grandchildren meals or snacks several times per week. A second study further supported the crucial role of grandparents in their grandchildren’s diets.

Of the grandparents surveyed, the majority fed their grandchildren in ways that promoted healthy eating. However results also suggest that some grandparents felt they needed more support to do this confidently.

grandparent and child holding hands and walking

Some interesting things the study found:

  • Grandparents who provided a healthy food environment* had grandchildren who ate more fruit and vegetables and less unhealthy savoury snacks, sweet snacks, and sugary drinks.

    * A healthy food environment meant they had healthy foods available in their home and during meal times and did their best to minimise the presence of unhealthy snack foods in between

  • Grandparents who set limits on how much unhealthy food they allowed their grandchildren to eat had grandchildren who ate less savoury snacks and consumed fewer sugary drinks.

  • The diet of grandparents was really important! Grandparents who reported eating plenty of fruit and vegetables had grandkids who did the same. Similarly grandparents who reported eating more junk food had grandkids who also ate more junk food.

  • Grandparents who described their grandkids as “fussy eaters” indicated they ate less fruit and vegetables and more sweet snacks.

    Tips for grandparents:
  • Keep healthy food (especially healthy snacks) in your home.
  • Make sure fruit and vegetables are on display, easily accessible, and appealing! For example, keep the fruit bowl full and have colourful salad vegetables chopped up on a platter ready for when the grandkids come over.
  • Get kids involved in food preparation, even if it is just helping with food assembly or bringing food to the table.
  • Set limits on unhealthy food. You don’t have to restrict these foods altogether (in fact, this can make kids want them more!), just set clear rules about how much, how often, and when these foods can be eaten.
  • Make sure you’re eating healthily too!
  • Familiarity is really important – kids often need to try a food lots of times before they will accept it. Don’t give up!
  • Food preferences can change over time, keep offering and encouraging as this can help reduce or improve food fussiness. Remember to keep it relaxed and take the pressure off.
  • Try not to give in to pestering when out and about or at the shops.

    Become a champion of healthy eating!

  • child hand helping put topping on a pizza

Where to go for more info...

For healthy snack ideas for the grandkids, head to our Crunch&Sip recipe page.

For even more easy and healthy recipes for the family, check out the LiveLighter recipe page