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Family First: Developing and encouraging healthy eating habits during the pandemic

What can parents do to keep everyone on track and healthy as we head into the fall season?

WESTPORT, Conn. — Many parents are juggling challenging school schedules these days. The pandemic switching up classroom and mealtime routines for many kids.

What can parents do to keep everyone on track and healthy as we head into the fall season?

Abby Greenspun, MS, RD, CDN from Abby Greenspun Nutrition in Westport, CT, says it all goes back to the basics.

“Eating the rainbow. Brightly-colored fruits and vegetables. Even if they’re not brightly colored, even if your child will only eat iceberg lettuce, it’s still better than no lettuce at all. Every fruit and every vegetable has beneficial qualities ” 

Greenspun warns parents to keep it simple and avoid falling for marketing tricks at the grocery store.  

 “There are entire aisles in the supermarket devoted to packaged, processed food for baby. Your babies don’t need that. They need food. They need real food” she said.

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 “Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, nuts and seeds and nut butters and chicken and fish and meat that is not necessarily a hot dog or a chicken finger or French fries. They can eat pasta but if they’re going to have pasta, whole wheat pasta is better. There’s even pasta made with chickpeas and lentils and all sorts of beans that are better than white pasta. There are so many things better than white pasta” Greenspun added.

Greenspun said a nutritious diet filled with real foods can also boost your immune system. Something we’re all a little more conscious of these days.

If you don’t have a healthy digestive system you’re not going to have a healthy immune system. Feeding it with lots of fiber and vitamins and minerals, again, those brightly colored fruits and vegetables, which are all going to be high in fiber, that’s what will boost your immune system and keep you healthier” she says.

You can head to Abby's Instagram page or website for more information.

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