Keeping Your Family Healthy, Part 1: Diet

I am going to admit to something that I am not proud of: Sometimes for dinner I make myself and my husband a beautiful salad or a lovely piece of grilled fish and veggies, and then I serve my kids macaroni and cheese and a hot dog. (Insert gasps here.) I know. Shocking, right?

My sneaky suspicion is that there are a few other parents out there who have done the same thing. One of the biggest challenges at mealtimes in many homes that I know, is to come up with healthy, delicious meals that everyone will eat. The last thing I want to feel like is a short-order cook, making different things for each person at the table. Why, though, is it that so many people who are trying to make better nutrition decisions feel it is OK to continue to feed their children processed foods?

Please understand I am writing this as much as a reminder for myself as I am for everyone else. My children’s eating habits are certainly not perfect. And unfortunately, I only have myself to blame. I realize certain kids can be pickier than others, but most kids will eat a lot more than we think they will. Often, people assume because they themselves do not like vegetables, their kids won’t like them either.

Just as I would advise one of my personal training clients to add as many fresh vegetables and fruits to their diets, I recommend doing the same for your children. Remember, children will model what they see. If you are eating healthy foods, they will be much more likely and willing to eat the same. With infants and young toddlers, this will be much easier. There are plenty of baby food options, so make sure you give your baby a variety. For toddlers, each meal should contain at least one serving of a fruit or vegetable.

Older children might be a bit more challenging if they have not developed good eating habits from the beginning. Take your kids with you to the grocery store and let them pick out a new vegetable to try. If you are not familiar with it, do some research (with your child) to find a new recipe that includes that item. Giving kids some ownership may help to encourage them to be more adventurous in their eating habits.

Try planting some vegetables at home. Ask the kids what they want to plant. Let them help with the whole planting, watering and harvesting process.

Set up a recipe exchange with some friends who have children the ages of your own. Allow the kids to pick which recipe they would like to share with their friends and give them the job of writing the recipe on a card and decorating the card. Remember, sometimes if a suggestion to eat a particular thing comes from a parent, it can be readily ignored by the child. However, if it comes from one of their friends, it can have much more meaning.

Never give up if your child refuses to eat something one time. Continue to offer it in different ways. Find different recipes or cooking methods that may change the way it looks.

Get as much color in your family’s diet as possible. Experiment with new foods all the time.

When all else fails, give your kids some ranch dressing to dip their vegetables in. My kids (ages 3½ years and 21 months) are really into “Dip Dip,” which is anything they can dip their food into, including ketchup, ranch dressing, sweet and sour sauce, and mustard. I had to steam a second batch of broccoli a few nights ago because they were having so much fun eating it with ranch.

Eliminating as much processed food as possible is essential. Do your kids a favor and start them with good eating habits early. If they are older, make eating healthy a family project. The bottom line is, it starts with you and what kind of example you are setting for them. Make mealtime a fun and healthy family time!

Next week in the second part of this series, I will give you ideas for exercising with your family.