If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I often preach about how as parents we need to put our foot down more when it comes to what our children are eating and drinking. I feel that most parents and grandparents (you guys are particularly bad about giving the kids too much junk) are in the dark when it comes to knowing just how much caffeine, sugar and chemicals that their children take in on a daily basis. Many just let the kids grab what they want, when they want then act all surprised when they end up with an overweight child, a child with health issues or severe cavities.Let me prove my point to you…

Take 9 year old Eddy (name changed so that my friends and family won’t ditch me for talking about them-LOL). Eddy is my son’s friend that comes over from time to time. He has some serious “hyper-tendencies” and I believe takes medication daily to control his “condition” (I can go on about that one also but another day).

Given, we are a healthy household and I don’t keep the typical kid junk foods around but would you believe this kids mother sent him over with a bag full of junk food because she “just knew he wouldn’t eat my food”. You may think I’m exaggerating but his bag contained, fruit gummies, cheese crackers, a candy bar, Pop-Tart sticks and a Mt. Dew.

Talk about keeping a kid held back and never trying anything new. Because I find how parents feed their children incredibly interesting, I began to ask “Eddy” what kind of foods he eats and likes. First of all he explained he hates water and milk and refuses to drink anything but soda and Kool-aid Jammers. He also never eats a single vegetable (which he said with a very proud smile) and will only eat hot dogs and chicken nuggets. He said he hates eating breakfast and if he eats anything it’s a donut or Pop-Tart. And might I add I always see this kid with candy in hand.

I asked him what his favorite fruit was….long pause…(his brain a workin’ hard here)…he finally said to me “what’s a fruit again?” Now I’m sure he knew what fruit was but he couldn’t think of a single one that he liked to eat. NOT ONE! (He said his mom doesn;t keep fruit around). I went through the list banana…nope, too mushy….apple…nope, don’t like the skin…orange, “yuck”…COME ON! I couldn’t believe it!

Later I very cautiously spoke with his mother and she explained that she tries to get him to eat better but he won’t try anything. I explained she really gives him no reason to because she will turn around and give him the other stuff the second he won’t eat the healthy stuff. Plus, she and her husband make no attempts to eat all that healthy so why should “Eddy”. Just doesn’t work that way.

1) You must make the decision as a family to eat and live healthier. Get rid of some (yes, I said some…it is a process ya know) of the unhealthy things, limit how much unhealthy/junk food you and your family eat or just stop buying it all together (my preference).  

2) Put some effort into finding healthier recipes you all like, snacks that are tasty but not full of crud and sugar and just make this whole healthy thing a new adventure instead of a punishment or chore. You didn’t learn to walk overnight and learning to shop, cook and eat healthy doesn’y happen overnight either.

Solutions are there…you first need to be willing to make the changes as a parent…then your kids are more likely to accept and follow. If you aren’t doing the deal then why should they? Also, get the kids involved in cooking and preparing healthier foods. They will be more likely to eat the food they cook then be forced to eat something YOU say is “good” for them. I do this often when I want my kids to try a new recipe or food.

Just Remember, YOU ARE THE PARENT! YOU CALL THE SHOTS! PERIOD!

Look, I know that you can’t be there all the time and kids will trade their carrots for a ding-dong any day BUT you can show them how to make better choices and grow their taste buds for healthier foods simply by walking the walk at home and providing tasty alternatives to the usual chips, soda and sweets. Yes, you will have to do some work and start showing them by WALKING the WALK YOURSELF but aren’t your kiddo worth it?

I often get a lot of flack from moms when I say “buy the healthy stuff and don’t have the other junk around” (except as an occasional treat). I feel that when they get hungry enough they will at least try your Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Pita Pizza, English Melts, Hi-Protein Pancakes or Sunrise Shake (all of which you can learn about in my Healthy Grocery Store Tour Kit). They aren’t going to starve, I promise you. If you are consistently encouraging them to make better choices AND explaining why the other junk is bad for them they will take you up on SOME (I’m not that unrealistic) of the new healthier options you are making available to them. 

My point is very simple today, take a good hard look at whether or not you are really giving your kids opportunities to be healthy or if YOU are the reason they are making the poor choices in the first place. I know that’s kind of a crappy thing to say but they don’t buy the groceries…you do. What you expose and teach them when they are little will set the stage for the rest of their lives.Hang in there parents and grandparents! There is a wealth of info out there to help you. Keep your eyes peeled for healthy foods and recipes. Always be willing to try new stuff and the little guys will see that and catch on, it may take a bit, but they will eventually come around.

Raising healthy kiddos is hard these days but IT IS POSSIBLE, with effort and consistency!Check out my main page and you will see many resources I have available for you. Recipes, exercises, articles, my newsletter and Healthy Grocery Store Tour DVD. Feel free to post your feeling and thought below (good or bad). We can all learn from each other. Take care and raise those kiddos healthy…there’s no telling what they will achieve!

Darlene

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 5:02 pm and is filed under health, health food, obesity, healthy, healthy family, healthy kid, healthy eating, healthy food, healthy solutions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.