Healthy Eating - Salt Lake City,UT

Why not let them have them if they want, but, show them how to read a serving size, what it looks like, and let them have 1. Maybe even two, but that is all one little girl or boy needs. This will help them know what a good amount is to eat. I also really like Avasmom's reply.

My kids are really young still. But honestly I'd say it all comes down to how YOU eat and view food. You can lecture them til you're blue in the face, but if they live it they'll be more likely to have bad eating habits. My parents are both horrible with food. My mom can't cook anything that doesn't come out of a box. And my dad eats canned nastiness. Growing up I viewed this as normal. I'd eat chips and soda for lunch at school. By the time I lived on my own I ate fast food daily and very rarely ate anything healthy. I didn't even really know what healthy was until a couple of years ago, and I'm 27 now.

Personally I don't think it's fair to tell your husband he can't buy what he wants or keep it in the kitchen. So maybe just include your children in food-related choices. Make the meal plan and grocery list together. Teach them how to read food labels. Encourage them to have an apple instead of a cookie. Forcing in either direction won't gaurentee anything, though. They are individuals afterall. Maybe your husband will be more inclined to change his own eating habits once he sees the rest of the family making healthy choices.

We eat our share of junk food, but I try to make sure that my DD understands that some foods are healthy, some are unhealthy and some are not even food at all just chemicals. You can eat unhealthy food or even the fake-food, but you have to call a spade a spade and just admit you are eating the item for pleasure not for health and sustenance. Once the kid understands the difference and starts thinking in terms of 3/4 of they food needs to be healthy, the other 25% can be in the other categories, they make the right decision on their own most of the time. Good luck!

The more you deny them these foods the more they'll want them and sneak them when he's there and you're not. I suggest you let the kids have minimal bits of these foods. Also, ask dad if he's willing to keep his snacks in his night stand or somewhere out of the kitchen. That's what we do so the kids can't find them.

It depends on what the message is that they are receiving.

I don't think you can when there are two standards in the house. "Do as I say, not as I do" is a really tough model to follow. I think, if it's something like beer, you can easily say, "This is for adults and not for kids who are still growing." But when Dad can have cookies and they cannot, you've got a huge disconnect.

But how and when is Dad eating these products? Are they a small treat now and then after a healthy meal and a trip to the gym? Or is the message, "These are my treats, don't touch them, and I don't give a damn if your mother wants you to eat kale chips, I want my Fritos"? If the parents don't agree on a fundamental issue, the kids pick up on the disconnect, and play one against the other.

However, if the treats are limited and are the high quality version, that's a different story. So, for example, if your husband is eating (or will switch to) a high-cacao dark chocolate and not eat the whole bar, that has a beneficial health effect on the heart. A few chocolate shavings or dark chocolate chips over a dish of frozen yogurt can be really fun.

If the cookies/treats you both buy are higher in whole grains and limited in processing (and with no trans fats or high fructose corn syrup), or better yet if you make them yourself with natural sugars (stevia, agave), oats, whole grain flour, etc., that's another story. So see if you can make some "acceptable" switches for everyone that put healthier choices in front of them.

My son is a hard core runner who watches everything that goes into his mouth (having evolved from the pickiest eater of chicken nuggets, fries and junk if I'd let him), but he likes these granola bars made with almond butter or peanut butter (he uses the natural, with no high fructose corn syrup), dried fruit (cranberries, currants, dried cherries, etc. - we mix it up), oats, and so on - and no preservatives. Far better than packaged granola bars that the industry tries to make you think are healthy! Getting the whole family involved in some shopping and cooking is fun, and it rubs off. Even limiting an ingredient list to something like 5 or 6 ingredients, or saying that the first 5 can't contain "sugar" or "partially hydrogenated oils" or "enriched flour" is a huge step in the right direction.

Another reason people snack is that they are craving nutrients they are missing. It's been well documented for decades that our food supply is deficient because of over-processing, depleted soils, and unhealthy growing techniques. So our bodies are missing things, we crave those phytonutrients or trace elements, and we head to the cabinet to grab whatever is there. Upgrading the nutrient load of what you eat for regular meals is a good start, and supplementing properly with bioavailable (absorbable) nutrients with a patent on the label (so you know that what is says on the label is actually in the can!) is a great step. We found it cuts the cravings because we are fully satisfied and our nutrition needs are met, so the treats are just that - a treat. Two cookies will do instead of 10, an ounce of chips with a healthy dip just taste so much better than a half a big bag, real chocolate tastes so much better than a bar of cheap chocolate with HFCS, and so on. When kids' palates are expanded and updated, they make better choices naturally, so Mom isn't the Food Police Chief.

I'm not sure what is wrong with "junk" occasionally. To have a healthy relationship to food, you need access to all food, in my opinion.

In fact, families that do not control their kids food choices --letting them have dessert first, etc. ---find that kids grow into adults that make really good food choices.

If you want them to have a healthy relationship to it, teach them by having one yourself.

Stop buying chips/chocolate or only get them rarely (once every few months).
We don't ban soda but we try to keep it to once a week.
Have fruit and veggie sticks available for snacking.

There's a place for chips and chocolate. They are called treats and should be consumed after a health meal. You teach healthy eating by having your children assist in making meals and having lots of fruit and veggies in every single meal.

Single serving sizes for your kids?
Teach them serving size and moderation.

That is a tough one...but completely doable. If you are up for the challenge. Yours is an all too common situation. A confusing one for sure!

1. There is food and there is junk - there is no such thing as "junk food". Make sure your kids know the difference. It would be great if your husband learned that too! ;)
2. Much like exposure to other harmful substances, it is okay to say no to the junk for your kids. You may have no control over your husband, although you can set some ground rules in your home. Chips and chocolates can be your hubby's "outside junk".
3. You are the mother. You let yourkids know what is best, you offer them the best and as they grow you hope you did a good enough job with them so that they can make their own decisions.

My daughters are 18 and 14 now, we started "healthy eating" about 8 years ago. We eliminated a lot of junk from our lives over time. We just started replacing it with healthy options. it was gradual and the kids just accepted it. Do they still eat junk once in awhile...sure, but it is very few and far between. I trust that they will make the right decisions as much as possible. That is all I can do as a mom.

Be strong, make the right decisions and your kids will too.

B.

My kids also love the junk food. But, even though we sometimes have it in the house, they do eat pretty healthy. You have to teach them how to have it. My kids know that moderation is the key to enjoying things. If you want a snack, you eat a good meal first and then take just a small amount. I do have to remind them though when they are on the computer (which I really hate food around it) and watching tv or playing online (Ipods). Mindless eating.