Part 2 Part 2 Online version

How to help
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 1. Growth and development of
dietary habits
Early childhood (aged 2-6) is an important stage for growth and
development. The ways of learning and dietary habits of young
children will change as they grow. Parents may help children lay a good
foundation for building healthy dietary habits by taking note of the
following developmental characteristics :
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Love to share
Share healthy food with them in daily life as this may increase their
How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

acceptance of a variety of food.

Curious about new things

Introduce new food items as this promotes exposure to unfamiliar
food thus reducing the chance of picky eating.

Begin to understand routines and patterns

Encourage children to have their daily meals at regular hours.

The link between nutrition and learning ability

A lot of medical research has shown that nutritional status may
affect children’s attention span, which may in turn affect their
cognitive development and learning performance. Thus having
good dietary habits, including taking a balanced diet and eating
breakfast every day, is particularly important.
2. Family education

Set a good example

Family can greatly affect the dietary habit formation of a young child.
Parents and elder family members are the role models from whom
children will learn eating patterns and food preference. Therefore, it
is necessary to set good examples such as having a balanced diet,
taking regular meals, eating more vegetables and avoiding junk food

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and picky eating.

How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

Nutritional education starts at home
Under the guidance of parents, children can learn about food and nutrition
in everyday life and can be encouraged to try new food so that the problem
of picky eating can be resolved gradually. The followings are some “golden
opportunities” to arouse children’s interest in healthy eating.
 Shopping time: Parents or carers may explore new food
items with children in markets or supermarkets. You can also
make use of these opportunities to introduce the characteristics of
different foods to children (e.g. Which ones are vegetables? Which
ones are seasonal food?) and pick the food for lunch/dinner to
encourage them to eat a wide variety of food.

Cooking time: Children may help with some simple and
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safe tasks such as washing vegetables, removing seeds with a

spoon, cutting bananas into small pieces with a fork, mixing
seasonings and food ingredients, or putting spreads on bread.
How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

These can promote young children’s acceptance and interest

towards food, and they will look forward to eating their own
“product”!

Story time: When choosing or reading storybooks, it will be
best if parents could check for content(s) going against the
principles of healthy eating, and provide explanation and guidance
to children when necessary.

Reward time: Children should be rewarded if they behave

well. Yet it is not appropriate to give food as a reward as this will
hinder the development of good dietary habits (For details, please
refer to “Must Read: The truth is…” in Part 6). Remember to reward
them in ways and means other than food.
Precious dining time

Actions speak louder than words – Through the practice of healthy

cooking at home and eating together, children will have more
opportunities to try new food and can be encouraged to learn healthy
eating. Children will enjoy the food if the atmosphere at mealtime is
harmonious and happy. There should be no nagging, scolding or
tempting either. Furthermore, there are some points to note:

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Avoid putting extra seasonings on table (e.g. salt, soy sauce)

How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

Provide a small portion to children first to prevent wastage. This
will enable them to develop a sense of satisfaction after finishing
the small portions and parents may then consider giving more if
indicated. Parents may wish their children to eat more, but a big
portion may bring pressure particularly for those children with small
appetite, making the situation worse.

Learn good table manners (including turning off the TV, no gobbling,
no playing during eating) so that children will keep their focus
on food. In this way, they will feel full without overeating, thus
cultivating healthy dietary habits.
 3. Tips for eating out or during
celebration

Eating out
Many parents often dine out with their children. Bear in mind the
following and order healthy dishes to avoid the pitfalls of high salt, high
fat and high sugar:
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Order food based on the “Healthy Eating Food Pyramid”. Grains

should take up the largest amount, followed by vegetables. Meat
should constitute the least.
How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

Note the cooking method: Choose steamed, baked, grilled,

poached or stewed dishes.

Avoid dishes cooked with sauces high in fat or salt such as white
sauce, cream sauce, Portuguese style sauce, curry sauce added
with coconut milk, teriyaki sauce, etc. Alternately, request the sauce
to be served separately.

Choose wholegrain products or grains with higher dietary fibre

contents (e.g. red rice, brown rice, multi-grains bread, wholemeal
bread, oatmeal, etc.). Avoid those high in fat such as E-fu noodle,
instant noodle, “yau mian” (oily noodle) and French fries, etc.

Avoid processed food, cured food, fatty cut of meat and poultry
with skin, such as chicken wings and paws, pork bone, ribs, beef
briskets, pork belly, pork cheek, etc.

For desserts, choose fruit or fruit-based ones.

 For drinks, water is the best choice. Avoid drinks with added sugar
or those containing caffeine (e.g. soft drinks, fruit juice with added
sugar, tea, coffee , etc.)

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When ordering food, make reasonable requests such as “less salt”,
“less oil”, “less sugar”, “sauce to be separately served”, “no sauce”
and have the syrup separately served for drinks and desserts.

How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

Nowadays, many restaurants are willing to cater to the

needs of customers. For the health of your family, ask
for “less oil”, “less salt” and “less sugar” when making
your order!
 Healthy
birthday party
In children’s birthday parties, “party” food and drinks that are high in fat,
salt or sugar (e.g. cream cake, fried chicken wings, potato chips, sweets,
soft drinks, etc.) are often provided. In many cases, friends and families
may also give high-fat and high-sugar food, e.g. sweets or chocolate, as
presents which are also detrimental to health. Also, children will easily
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associate these “party” food or “presents” with “joyful experience” or

“happiness”. The association with foods high in salt, oil and sugar in
birthday parties will affect their formation of healthy eating habits in later
How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

life. Indeed, such adverse effects will not only affect your children but also
those from other families. Parents should thus organise “healthy birthday
parties” to foster children’s development of proper eating attitudes.

Here are some tips:

Focus on something else other than food during birthday
parties. Games, magic shows, costume parties or picnics are good
choices. Do not create a fun-filled atmosphere consisting only of
“party food”.

Choose healthier ingredients, if food is being served. A fun-filled

atmosphere can be created with a wide variety of healthy food of
different colours and shapes.

Choose sponge cake instead of cream cake that contains a lot

of fat. You may decorate the sponge cake with fresh fruits for the
celebration.

Do not provide drinks and foods that are high in sugar such as soft
drink, fruit juice with added sugar, sweets, chocolate, etc.

Give stationery, stickers, storybooks and toys instead of food as

presents.

For birthday party in schools, please follow the school’s healthy

eating policy. If you need to bring food to school for sharing ,
prepare healthier ones such as fruit, sushi or sandwich (using
healthy fillings such as egg, cucumber, chicken fillet or mango).
Recommendations for
festivals and celebrations
It is our tradition to enjoy festive food on certain festivals, whether Chinese
or western. But remember to take into account the nutritional content and
not to overlook the health of young children on these special occasions.
It is important to follow the principles of balanced diet and “3 low 1 high”.
Here are some tips on “selection of food and drinks” during festivals:

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● Enjoy festive feasts by following the principles and recommended
food portions in the “Food Pyramid”. Take more vegetables and

How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

less meat as well as choose dishes cooked by steaming, poaching,
stewing, baking, or stir-frying with little oil.

● Limit the amount of festive food for children and serve in only small
amount, and should not replace main meals by the festive food.

● Most festive foods are high in energy, salt, fat and sugar, but there
are still many healthier options.

Fresh fruit are full of variety, low in energy and rich in

dietary fibre. They are good choices as festival gifts!
 Lunar
New Year
Family Reunion Dinner (Tuen Nin Faan) and the
New Year Feast (Hoi Nin Faan)
It is the Chinese tradition to have rich-flavoured dishes and dishes with
more meat and fewer vegetables on these occasions. This can easily
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lead to excessive intake of animal fat and salt which adversely affect our
health. It is better to choose healthy ingredients and cook dishes based
on the “3 less” rule regardless of where we eat.
How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

New year food

We have many different treats during Chinese New Year. Most of the
traditional puddings, sweets and deep-fried snacks are high in fat and
sugar. Young children are likely to overeat and consume excessive
energy, leading to a higher chance of obesity. Apart from limiting the
amount of snacks our kids eat on this special occasion, a healthier
Chinese New Year assorted snack box can be set out following the
recommendations in Table 4.
Traditional Chinese New Year Healthy Chinese New Year
candy box candy box
Sweetened lotus seed, Dried fruits without added
sweetened winter melon, sugar (e.g. dried
sweetened lotus root and apricot, raisins, dried
sweetened coconut shreds, longan, dried mango, prune
chocolate, and dried apple)
fruit-flavoured candies

Roasted red and Seeds (e.g. sunflower or

black melon seed pumpkin seed)

Deep-fried food such as

crispy triangles (yau gok), Plain rice crackers,
fried sesame balls (jin dui) dry roasted plain nuts
and fried sesame cookies without added salt*
(siu hau jo)

Table 4. Food for Chinese New Year assorted snack box

* Remark: parents should pay attention as young children may get choked
when they eat this type of food.
Mid-autumn
Festival
Mooncakes and glutinous rice balls are the festive food for Mid-autumn
Festival. Here are some notes and tips for buying food for the festival:

Mooncake

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Mooncake is one of the most popular food items for the festival.
Traditionally, mooncakes are made of flour, oil, sugar, salted egg yolk and
lotus seed paste, which are very high in fat, cholesterol, sugar and energy.

How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

One lotus seed paste with double yolks mooncake contains 840 kcal,
which constitutes more than half of the daily energy need of a 4-year-old
child. Though snowy mooncake has less energy and fat, it is still high in
fat and sugar. We may give 1/8 of a mooncake to young children each
time, and they should avoid eating mooncakes every day.

Eating tips for Mid-autumn Festival

Seasonal fruit, including pear,

starfruit, pomelo and persimmon,
are good festive food choices as
they are nutritious and low in energy.

Glutinous rice balls carry the meaning of “reunion”. Choose those
without filling and serve them with low-sugar sweet soup.

Mooncake is high in fat and sugar. Adults or young children should

not eat too much.

Choose mini-sized or individually packed mooncakes to limit one’s

intake. Try those with other fillings like mung bean paste, chestnut
paste, fruit or low-fat frozen yoghurt.
 Tuen Ng
Festival
Chinese people like to eat glutinous rice dumplings and watch the dragon
boat race during Tuen Ng Festival. While enjoying the dumplings, we need
to note their nutritional value and choose healthier options. We may work
with children to make dumplings with healthier ingredients. Here are some
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tips when buying, making and eating glutinous rice dumplings:

Tips for buying glutinous rice dumplings

How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

Choose smaller dumplings.

Dry beans, lean meat and mushrooms are healthier choices as
fillings.
Be careful when buying red bean paste dumplings or other sweet
dumplings as their fillings usually contain lard which is very high
in energy.

Tips for homemade glutinous rice dumplings

Choose the appropriate ingredients by following the principle of “3
low 1 high” (low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt and high-dietary fibre).
Add high-fibre grains such as pearl barley, oatmeal, black glutinous rice
and brown rice as well as dry beans such as red bean and mung bean.
Use lean meat instead of fatty meat and preserved meat as fillings.
Other choices include dry beans, dried shiitake mushroom, bamboo
shoot, peanut, and taro.

Use healthier vegetable oils instead of lard which is high in

saturated fat.

Tips when eating:

Serve with small amounts of sugar or soy sauce.
Serve with fresh vegetables and/or fruit to ensure balanced
nutrition.
Do not overeat to avoid affecting the appetite for main meals and
leading to imbalanced nutrition.
Christmas
Many families have celebrations during Christmas time. Party
food, Christmas feasts and buffets are very popular. With the
following tips, parents can teach children to avoid food high in
fat, salt and sugar when they join celebrations at home or outside.

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Remember the importance of balanced diet and regular exercise
even during Christmas holidays.

Tips for Christmas eating

How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

Limit the intake of deep-fried food
such as deep-fried shrimp toast
and curry puff, etc.
Avoid fatty cut of meat such as
pork rib or poultry with skin in
western meals. Choose lean meat and fish. Reduce the intake of
food in Western-styled sauce such as black pepper or barbecue
sauce which contains excessive amounts of salt.
Avoid high-sugar or caffeinated drinks (e.g. soft drinks, fruit juice,
tea, coffee, etc.)
Eat fresh fruit instead of Western-styled desserts such as cream
cake, cheesecake or ice-cream since they contain high levels of
fat and sugar.
If less healthy gifts such as cookies or chocolate are given, limit the
amount that children may eat each time. Store these less healthy
food items in a place beyond their reach.

If your children eat too much high-energy food

during festivals, do encourage them to exercise
more to burn the extra energy.
 4. Home-school cooperation

Children learn healthy eating habits mainly at home and school. Good
communication and cooperation between home and school will set
a common goal for healthy eating and education. Parents may involve
themselves in the following areas:
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Formulate and review the school healthy eating policy.

Join the school promotion activities on healthy living with children.
How to help children develop healthy eating habits?

Pay attention to the monthly school menu and let the school know
how you feel about the nutritional arrangements.
Work with the school in promoting healthy eating. Bring along
healthy snacks for celebrations (e.g. birthday party, Christmas
party, etc.) and avoid using food as presents.
Inform the school of any special dietary needs of your child
because of some health conditions (e.g. food allergy, G6PD
deficiency) or religious belief.
Practise healthy eating at home so that there will be a consistent
healthy eating environment at home and in the school. This
will help them develop a healthy eating habit.