Being healthy isn’t a choice that most children make alone – it involves the entire family. Parents can be role models for their children by eating well and exercising themselves. Here are some tips to get your whole family on the right health track:
- Share regular family meals. Use the family meal as an excuse to catch up with each other. Make it a time to experiment with new foods. If you serve a variety of foods and make healthful foods easily available, your children will be more likely to eat them.
- Start a healthier regimen. Back to school time is a perfect time to start. Nutritious meals are on the school menu, but you can send your own snacks or meals to make sure your child eats right. Remember that you are teaching your child how to eat. You may want to skip the latte or the heavy take-out lunch at the office and opt to brown bag it with some nutritious choices from home.
- Plan a menu together. Shop together and teach kids what to look for on nutrition labels. Make meals together. Try new foods every week. The American Dietetic Association suggests letting kids help plan and prepare their lunches. Talk with them about making healthful choices. They’ll be more likely to eat the carrot sticks, if they peeled them and packed them.
- Serve fruit or vegetables at every meal. Make it easy to reach for good snacks instead of chips. Keep yogurt and cut-up veggies at kids’ eye level in the refrigerator or put whole-grain crackers in an easily reached spot in the pantry.
- Other tips include: not forcing your child to clean their plate, not fighting over food, scheduling regular times for meals and snacks, and limiting fat intake, sugary drinks, fast food and other high-calorie snacks.
You also may want to read up on how your child’s body image can be affected:
- Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children, by Sarah Grogan (Routledge, 2007)
- Real Kids Come in All Sizes: Ten Essential Lessons to Build Your Child’s Body Esteem, by Kathy J. Kater (Broadway, 2004)
- No Body’s Perfect, by Kimberly Kirberger (Scholastic, 2003)
- Be True to Yourself: A Daily Guide for Teenage Girls, by Amanda Ford (Conari Press, 2000)
Want to read more on this topic? Nutritionist Paula VanAken blogs for HVParent.com on this topic!