Teach Your Children to Eat...The RIGHT Way!!

One of my greatest areas of expertise is nutrition and helping families “clean out the cupboards” and clean up their health. I take great pleasure in knowing that by helping kids adopt healthy habits today they will become healthy adults and avoid the road of chronic diseases due to poor lifestyle habits.

I commonly hear “my child will only eat (fast food) french fries.” My response is, “who’s driving the car there??” Another parent told me her child will only eat ring bologna and pizza lunchables. My response, “who brought it into the house to begin with??” Another parent justified her children’s’ poor eating habits by saying, “I don’t want to deprive them of being kids”. Her kids were overweight and constantly sick. How is not allowing your children to shovel in garbage with no nutritive value a deprivation of childhood?? Parents don’t realize the dangerous habits they are creating for their children when they don’t educate them on nutrition.

The problem is many parents were never taught themselves how to eat healthy. However, in the absence of nutritional education there are still many foods that parents know full well are not good for their family. How many times has your child been eating something and sharing it with the family dog and your response was, “no, no, honey. Don’t feed that to the dog! It will make him sick!”? If you won’t feed it to the dog, why do you feed it to your children??

I have a 4 year old daughter. Many of my patients think there is not an ounce of “junk food” in my house. Our “junk food” is just healthier versions of traditional snacks. My daughter has been educated to know that our “treats” should be void of toxic substances such as artificial sweeteners, artificial colors & flavors, monosodium glutamate, and hydrogenated oils just to name a few. Our house rule is healthy food first…treats second. In fact, my daughter has been known to correct her little classmates for eating their treats before their protein. Unfortunately, many of her classmates lunches have no protein. So, here’s a guide to bringing healthy food into your children’s lives:

First: Make a healthy lunch:
• A protein source
o Lunchmeat, chicken, low fat cheese sticks, cottage cheese, yogurt (sweeten it yourself), high protein grains, legumes, tofu, organic peanut butter (your typical peanut butter is all hydrogenated oil)
 (note: nuggets of any kind DO NOT COUNT! Please avoid any protein source that has been chopped pressed and formed!)

• Fruit ~ real fruit…nothing from a container or a can.
• Vegetable ~ Think fiber and fun. Carrot sticks, celery sticks, or grape tomatoes with hummus for example
• Grain ~ brown or jasmine rice (buy cooked frozen sources at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. (NO MINUTE ANYTHING!) Choose gluten free when possible. Mix in peas or other veggies.
• Snacks: cashews, walnuts, almonds, olives, etc. Choose organic sources of snacks that have been non or minimally processed. There are healthier versions of the snacks you buy. You just need look in a different isle or on a different part of the shelf.

Send 2 to 3 different snacks with lunch to give your child choices. They will never eat all of them but they will feel empowered to be able to make choices.

Second: Look for organic sources of the traditional snacks and cereals.
You will feel much better giving your child these snacks knowing they are void of toxic substances. Start to replace all the snacks in your house with the “healthier versions”. Don’t worry about flavor…they taste much better than their toxic counterparts!

Third: Stop with the constant juice consumption!
Another common statement is, “my kids just don’t eat”. I’m not sure what that means. Obviously, if they didn’t eat they would starve to death! My guess is they have filled up on calories from juice and other snacks and when it comes time for dinner they don’t have an appetite.

Fourth: Get them in the kitchen with you.
Children want to help so let them. My daughter is always in the kitchen with me. I put all the chopped items into little dishes and let her add them to the recipes. She assembles, stirs, watches, and asks questions. The whole time I am talking to her about why I use certain ingredients and how they come together to make a meal. She’s always been a good eater but even more so when she’s had a hand in preparing. Children become proud of their accomplishments and, therefore, are more willing to eat the fruits of their labor…literally!

Having them help place the frozen nuggets or pizza rolls on the cookie sheet does not count! I’m not sure how these items are even classified as food and should not be in your house in the first place!

Your commitment to healthier eating will reward you for years to come! Happy eating…Happy life!