Healthy Eating Habits

from Shine Newsletter, Spring 2006

Start Early!

Let’s talk about one of the most important relationships in your child’s life — the relationship with food. Children will carry their eating habits into adulthood. What do you need to know to help your child build a strong foundation for good health? Find out.

You want your children to be healthy today and every day for the rest of their lives. Help them start off on the right foot by teaching them to eat healthy foods. This three-step plan can help you instill great eating habits and a healthy outlook on food in your kids.

Mix It Up

“Kids, especially younger ones, eat whatever is available at home,” says Cinda Nab, RD, clinical dietitian at The Children’s Hospital. “It’s important to have a variety of nutritious foods readily available to ensure they’re getting all the carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and fiber their growing bodies need.”

Quick Tip: Introduce only one food at a time, combining each new food with familiar foods.  Encourage your child to eat new foods, but accept his or her refusal of a new food and try again in a few weeks.  Get artistic — have your child help you use vegetables to turn a pizza into a smiley face. Colorful foods are not only fun to look at — they often pack more of a nutritional punch.

Get in a Groove

Establish a predictable schedule of meals and snacks.  Family meals are a comforting ritual for both parents and kids. When children are allowed to eat while watching TV or engaging in other activities, they often begin to eat for reasons other than physiological hunger. The consistency of eating at the table at regular intervals helps children learn about fullness and hunger.

“If your child refuses to eat, tell him or her that you will not provide food again until the next scheduled meal or snack time,” says Nancy Krebs, MD, MS, pediatrician at Children’s.

Quick Tip: Enlist your child’s help in planning at least one meal a week. This will encourage conversation about food variety, reinforce your meal schedule and let your child know that you welcome his or her input.

Be a Role Model

The best way to encourage healthy eating is to eat well yourself. By eating a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and other nutritious foods, you set a good example for your child to follow. 

Another way to model healthy eating is by choosing moderate portion sizes and not overindulging. However, perpetual dieting and negative commentary on your body and appearance may foster similar negative feelings in your child. If your child’s weight and eating habits have you concerned about the potential for obesity or an eating disorder, read “Childhood Obesity: Should You Be Concerned?” and “A Thin Frame of Mind” on pages 4 and 5.

Quick Tip: Maintain a positive approach to nutrition by making mealtimes enjoyable for your child. Teach your child fun ways of gauging appropriate portion sizes in terms that he or she can relate to. For example, one serving of meat, poultry or fish is about the size of a small box of crayons.

For more information about healthy eating, call The Children’s Hospital Nutrition department at 720-777-1234.