Parents Nutrition:

Practicing healthy habits like eating healthful foods, along with getting the daily recommended amount of age appropriate physical activity, is essential to providing children with a strong foundation for lifelong good health. Make healthy food choices for healthy lives. Do it for yourself; do it for your family; Do it together!

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How can parents help their children practice making healthy eating choices for healthy lives?

1. Involve the whole family: When setting out to begin modifying your child’s nutrition and physical activity patterns, the best advantage you can provide to experiencing success is to take on the mission as a family. Don’t single out a child. Everyone in the family is part of the team and can help the entire family begin and continue healthy habits.



2. Remember that you are your child’s most significant role model: Our children learn a great deal from their parents and caregivers. It is important to set a solid example for them by being physically active and following responsible nutrition practices. Chances are good that they will copy your behavior “good” or “bad” – so why not make it “good”?



3. Don’t try to change everything at once: Changing these behaviors can be incredibly rewarding, but don’t bite off more than you can chew all at once. Start the process by keeping a record of your family’s current levels of physical activity and food practices. Next, identify areas where you can make small changes. Set some short term and long term healthy eating goals. Experiencing success in meeting attainable goals is the key to sustaining the healthful changes you are making in your family’s levels of physical activity and nutrition related behavior. So remember to set some easily attainable goals like making sure that at least one snack during the day is a healthy offering. Save the more difficult goal of eliminating (or substantially reducing the frequency of) the less healthy (high fat or high sugar) snack offerings as longer range goal you realize will take more time to achieve.

Serve a variety of foods providing your family with a mixture of essential nutrients: We do not consume enough whole grains, fruits and vegetables in our dietary routines. Also, try to incorporate low fat dairy options whenever possible and avoid foods high in sugar and salt. Serving low-fat and low-sugar snacks made of whole grains, vegetables and fruits can be helpful in achieving recommended levels of fiber, fruits and vegetables.

5. Prepare and eat meals together as a family: Make the preparing and consumption of healthful meals “fun” and enjoyable family experiences. Turn off the television or other electronic entertainment, include the children and have a conversation. Children will be more likely to take greater interest in a meal they helped make. Time at the table can be used for strategy sessions. It takes time for the stomach to communicate to the brain to stop eating because you are full --- spending time at the table permits us to understand our body’s signals.



6. Food is Fuel and Portion sizes: Take the time to prepare your family to read nutrition labels. In addition to coming to understand appropriate serving sizes, family members can use the information to better understand their individual energy and calorie needs each day. If they take in more fuel than they need to burn in a day, the excess will be stored as fat.



7. Avoid using food as a reward or punishment: Find alternative methods to reinforce desired behaviors and to punish. Using food in this way sends the wrong message about nutrition to your children.



8. Focus on the positive and make it fun to eat healthful foods: . By following these suggestions, making a family effort, and having “fun”, you will increase the likelihood that your children will practice healthy eating habits long into their adulthood.



9. Making a series of incremental changes will help your family avoid the disappointment and frustration that comes from trying to do too much and not being able to realize these large goals.



10. Consult your pediatrition: If you suspect your child is overweight. Do not, on your own, begin a calorie restrictive food routine to address perceived nutrition or weight problems.

Tips for Making Healthy Eating Choices (Easier):

• Drink water or low fat milk rather than sugary beverages
• Serve fresh fruits and vegetables as part of every meal and snack
• Serve your family a variety of foods from the different food groups
• Buy whole grain cereals, breads, and baked goods
• Limit unhealthy fats by serving lean meats and fish
• Avoid saturated fats (solid at room temperature)
• Serve smaller servings or self-serve; allow them to request more if still hungry
• Do not force kids to eat everything on their plate
• Try to stick to a regular snack and meal schedule
• Try to broil and bake; avoid deep fat frying
• Prepare meals at home, bring lunch along, and avoid fast food (unless healthy option offered)
• Don’t purchase high fat or sugar snacks and cereals

By including these measures in your nutrition related habits, you make it easier for you and your children to make healthy eating choices for healthy lives.

Tips to Include Fruits and Vegetables in your Family’s Routine:

leave cut veggies and fruit out at snack time make at least one daily snack or fresh fruit serving add fresh, frozen or canned fruits to morning cereal or pancakes. if preparation time is an issue, purchase bags of salad or cut veggies (produce section of your store) freeze 100% fruit juice in ice cube trays and add to water

Assess current Nutritional Behaviors by Keeping a Journal for a Few Days

Even if you’ve already decided that your family needs to modify its current nutritional behaviors, logging what everyone in the family is eating at meal and snack time can be a very powerful motivational tool for change that can aid the entire family.

Ask all family members to keep a record of what they eat each day for a few days. When you compile the results you’ll have a pretty good idea of where modifications can and need to be made. Once you have complete picture of where you’re standing, you can decide more clearly upon a direction in which to head. This is goal setting.

Setting Goals for Yourself and Your Family Can Make All of This Easier

As you and your family set out to make changes in physical activity and nutrition related behaviors, please remember that it probably took years to develop your current lifestyle and practices. Don’t expect to change everything all at once; you only set yourself up for failure and relapse to less than desirable behaviors. Once you’ve made the decision to make some changes, start by setting some short range (more easily attainable) and longer range (tougher) goals to work toward. This can be very helpful.

1. Identify a goal or set of goals you want to reach
2. Think about what it will require to accomplish them
3. If can be done quickly and with little difficulty – it’s a short range goal
4. More significant changes or things you think will be tougher or take longer are long range goals
5. Discuss goals with your family and agree to make these changes as a "team" (together)
6. Be specific about what will happen and when it will happen
7. Use a journal to help keep track of progress
8. Be sure to acknowledge successes and special efforts to keep people heading in the right direction

Need Helpful Suggestions: Ask The Pro

If you need some help or if a family member has a question that you can’t easily answer, try going to “Ask The Pro” on our site. Submit your questions. We’ll post an answer that can help you and other families attempting to make healthy choices for healthy lives. Nutrition & Fitness will not dispense advice of a medical nature. For that please consult with your primary care medical resource. We will however attempt to provide you with helpful suggestions to solve non-medical problems associated with your efforts to become more physically active and nutritionally responsible.

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