Making good nutrition choices for you and your family plays a vital part to leading a happy and healthy lifestyle.

While most of us know what makes up healthy foods, it can be harder to determine good from bad, as manufacturers are clever at hiding unhealthy additives.

At Vuly Play Trampolines, we promote active, safe play and nothing goes better with that than a nutritious eating habits. So here are some insightful tips that you should pay attention to the next time your grocery shopping.

1.

Dried Fruits – Usually loaded with a lot of sugar. This can come in the form of syrup before the drying process.

INSTEAD– Limit servings throughout the day and pay attention to the sugar content. OR have a fresh piece of fruit without the added sugar.

2.

Muffins – Oats or bran muffins can be misleading especially as a breakfast option as they have a bad reputation of being high in fat and sugar. Checking the ingredients is a great place to start so you know what you are actually consuming.

INSTEAD – Bake your own muffins to ensure maximum nutrition and no nasty additives.

3.

Cereals – This is where things can get very tricky. Many cereals marketed as 'healthy' can contain large servings of sugar and sodium. Children cereals are often marketed this way so always look at the back of the box.

INSTEAD – Try making your own granola recipe OR plain oats and add your own toppings e.g. fresh fruit or organic peanut butter.

4.

Flavored Yogurts – Many fruit yogurts can have excessive amounts of sugar. Check those claiming to be 'fat free' as other unhealthy additives may be used as a substitute.

INSTEAD –Buy a natural Greek yogurt alternative and add some berries or mango. Frozen fruits are great to have on hand for creating healthy swaps like this.

5.

Muesli Bars – Be careful of muesli bars marketed as 'natural or 'whole grain'. Often added sugars and fats are still common within these products.

INSTEAD – Take some time to research which muesli bars are the better choice or get the kids involved and make your own muesli bars without the uncertainty.

6.

Orange Juice – Many commercial orange juice brands contain high amounts of refined sugar. Be sure to stay clear away from those listed as 'fruit drink' as they contain small amounts of real fruit juice and lots of added sugar instead.

INSTEAD – Pulp orange juice is a better option, alternatively… You guessed it! You could make your own by juicing fresh oranges (hmm this seems to be a common theme to making smarter choices).

7.

Flavoured Milk – Don't let the milk aspect fool you, flavoured milk such as chocolate are both high in sugar and fat. Many of these brands can contain an entire day's worth of sugar in one serving.

INSTEAD – Try a dairy-free alternative such as flavoured almond milk. A healthier, yet delicious option, containing 50% more calcium than cow's milk.

Remember...

If in doubt, always check the label of the food product and when possible, try to make your own. This is especially true if choosing food items for children as many brands use tactical marketing to mask how unhealthy they can be.