One of the best ways I'm aware of to get your kids interested in eating healthy, balanced meals is to get them involved in cooking them. Kids of any age can help or even cook entire meals. The key is to start as early as possible getting them involved and to keep them active in the kitchen. The reason this works so well is that for one you get your kids exposed to all kinds of different foods and secondly, you are getting them to prepare the food and the pride they take in making something will get them to eat healthy foods they normally wouldn't touch.

Toddlers and preschoolers are great at stirring dry ingredients and helping you measure things. If you can't find anything for them to do, keep some play cooking utensils around and have them "cook" alongside you. School aged kids can prepare almost anything that doesn't involve a lot of heat or splashing oil. Encourage them to make their own sandwiches using a blunt knife. Ask them to peel eggs, toast bread or chop softer ingredients with a blunt knife. Put them in charge of washing the salad, setting the table and the likes. With some adult supervision they can even cook simple meals like spaghetti or scrambled eggs.

As your kids get older and more comfortable around the kitchen, encourage them to plan a healthy meal for the family and do the majority of the cooking once a week. Even kids who usually don't care much for healthy foods like steamed vegetables or baked salmon, will gladly eat it when they made it.

When it comes to snacks, keep your fridge and pantry stocked with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and encourage your kids to come up with fun snack ideas including those. You can have them create fancy peanut butter sandwiches with whole wheat bread, natural peanut butter and plenty of dry and fresh fruit that they can use to make sandwich faces or just come up with a gourmet sandwich topping.

Keep some yogurt on hand and have the kids mix it with a bit of mayonnaise or sour cream and some dip mix to make a fancy (and relatively healthy) dip they can enjoy with some raw veggies like celery, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

Give it a try and have your kids help with meal preparation, have them make suggestions on what to cook and let them pick their favorite healthy snacks. Before you know it everyone in the family will enjoy healthy and balanced meals and all the whining about having to eat broccoli or fish will stop. Best of all, you can feel good about providing them with the healthy, nutritious foods their growing bodies need.

Start getting your kids to eat healthier today by having them help around the kitchen and don't forget to get them outside for a game of tag or some other exercise as well. If your child isn't eating very healthy right now, start by offering some bananas or apple slices with peanut butter. Getting kids to eat fruit is usually easier than vegetables.