With school back in full swing, many parents are facing the dreaded task of trying to feed their families night after night. Many are also tasked with finding ways to get a healthy lunch into their child's hands each day, or to take one to the office themselves. Increasingly, parents are becoming busier and find it more challenging to make healthy meals a staple in their home, making it crucial that they have some tips and tricks to help make it happen.

“I started my company because as a mom, I know that it is essential to ensure your family is eating healthy, despite having hectic schedules," said Shana Greenbaum, founder of Healthy Fresh Meals, a home delivery meal prep service. "We help ease the stress in this area so that parents can focus on other things in their lives. This one thing they can cross off their to-do list."

Most parents want to ensure their families are eating healthy meals, at least most of the time. They also want to take healthy meals to work for their lunch and pack healthy items for their kids to get them through the day. Doing this regularly, however, is no easy task for most people. They have a whole load of other duties and items on their agenda that leave them little time to focus on preparing healthy meals, which require planning, shopping, organizing, and cleanup.

A study published in the journal Children focused on this issue, sharing the findings of research conducted on 42 families. They found that there were barriers to consistently eating healthy meals and being able to eat them together, including time constraints, over-scheduling, long work hours, a lack of meal planning, inadequate cooking skills, and food-related challenges, such as having picky eaters, among other issues cited. They conclude that parents have a desire to have healthy family meals with their children, but they feel there are too many barriers to making it happen. However, making it happen can play an essential role in helping to reduce childhood obesity. 

Here are some tips from Greenbaum to help make it easier and more accessible to get healthy family meals on the table, especially during the school year:

• Plan. Many people feel this is easier said than done, but it is a crucial step to ensuring healthy family eating. Those who don't plan often end up sacrificing their food choices for whatever they can get quickly, easily, and on the go with minimal effort. Each weekend, make a list of what the family will be eating all week. Doing a little planning ahead on the weekend will help ensure a smoother, quicker, and healthier week.
• Get help. Many people don’t know how to cook or don’t like to, and that’s okay. There is help available, such as meal prep services like Fresh Healthy Meals. Such options can be budgeted for and will ensure that the family is eating well. These options will help reduce stress and free up time that can be used for other purposes, such as spending more time with family and friends.
• Automate it. The more that families can automate their healthy eating habits, the easier it will become to keep them up. Find ways to automate healthy eating, whether it is having the same meal every Monday night, using a service, or having groceries delivered; it will all make it easier.
• Be the example. It's great when parents can set a good example for their kids, showing them how to make healthy eating a priority, even on stressful and busy days. This will go a long way toward helping them to grow up knowing that it is a priority and how they can also make it happen.
• Get kids involved. When kids get involved in helping to shop, prepare, and choose what to eat, they are more likely to enjoy the food and will grow up being more aware of their eating habits. This will help grow healthier kids and provide more quality time for the family to be together. Give each child an age-appropriate task to help prepare the healthy meal.

"I learned from a young age that eating healthier was going to be beneficial to my health and life overall," added Greenbaum. "I'm a healthy eater today because of the example that my mother set while growing up. If you get your kids on the right path today, they will also carry that into their adulthood and pass it on even further."

Healthy Fresh Meals offers a home delivery meal prep service to residents in the Washington, DC area, including those in Virginia and Maryland, with expansion plans. They offer an extensive menu of items to choose from, which changes weekly. The meals are all prepared by a team of professionally trained chefs, and they are all well-balanced meals for adults and children. They offer a wide variety of options each week, including meals explicitly created for athletes, high protein, low carb, gluten-free and dairy-free, vegan, and more. The meals are nutritious, great for picky eaters, and there are no subscriptions. There are breakfasts, lunches on the go, dinner entrees, family meals, and healthy treats. To learn more about Fresh Healthy Meals and see a menu, visit the site at: https://www.healthyfreshmeals.com/