A Kid-Friendly Diet?

Okay… let’s see… For breakfast a sugar-laden toaster pastry… yum!  For lunch, school cafeteria pizza, chips and a soda… oh yeah.  Some cookies and a sugary fruit drink after school to tide them over until dinner.  And for dinner, take-out fried chicken, French fries, a biscuit and butter and … wait for it… yes, another soda.

Are you really shocked? Come on… ask your kids what they would say if someone asked them to describe a kid-friendly diet.

In a recent issue of USA Today, a nutritionist suggested parents, “…sneak in modifications, and children won’t even realize they’re practicing more healthful eating habits.”  Here are some of her simple suggestions to get kids to eat better:

1. To get them to drink more water, buy fun water bottles.
2. Buy low-fat versions of the cheeses they eat, and use lower-fat ground turkey instead of ground beef in meals. They’ll never know the difference.
3. Leave vegetables out to snack on instead of having cookies and chips on hand.

In theory, these are good suggestions.  But really, if you offered your kids a big bowl of vegetables as a snack, would they help themselves to a healthy handful or would they whine and complain about not having any chips or cookies in the house? And why try to deceive your kids? How are they going to learn that low fat foods can be tasty as well as nutritious if they don’t know what they’re eating?

Yes, it would be great if you could stock your pantry with healthy foods and snacks and that’s all your kids ate. But just because they snack on carrots at home doesn’t mean they’re going to pass up cookies at someone else’s house. Take time to teach your children the basics of a healthy, balanced diet so they can make wise eating choices. Not that they should say “no” to a cookie, but that one or two cookies is enough. And be the best role model you can for your children. It’s true; your children are definitely influenced by your eating habits. You know that eating a balanced diet and making time for regular exercise is the best thing you can do for your health. Help your children understand, too.

Comments for "A Kid-Friendly Diet?"

Leave a Comment