A friend said how she tries to make sure her kids have balance in their meals.  I completely agree with her.  My children are not deprived of junk food (especially at birthday parties) and we all love chocolate and ice cream.  But, it’s making sure that they get the healthful foods and limit the junk to special occasions.  I want my children to have a healthy relationship with food.  I don’t agree with Jessica Seinfeld’s method of hiding the good stuff, I bring it front and center.  They start from the time they first eat solids.  If you get them to try it and keep introducing it, they will eventually get a taste for it.   In days long ago there were no junk foods, kids ate what they were given, no fuss.  We are lucky to live in a time and age that gives us the flexibility to give our kids food (and as Michael Pollan coined “edible foodlike substances”) they like and that are convenient. 

Ice Cream!

But we must maintain balance with the good food having more weight. 

When we pack our sons’ lunches we make sure the food groups are represented with a sandwich, veggies, fruit and a snack type carb.  Most popular lunch: turkey with mayo on whole grain bread, carrots and cucumbers, strawberries or apples (soak apple slices in lemon juice and water so they don’t turn brown), and goldfish.  

And again, eat with them.  Dinner time is usually the best in this country as it’s usually our biggest meal.  Let them see the foods you eat, even if you aren’t going to feed them the same thing.  Tell them how delicious it is and maybe they’ll want to taste it without being prompted.  If you think they’ll only eat chicken nuggets in dinosaur shapes, get a cookie cutter and cut a whole cooked real chicken breast into a shape.  If the chicken nuggets came in chicken shapes would the kids want to eat them?

You don’t need to completely avoid fats… fats don’t make people fat.  If they did all those eating fat free cookies and fat free cream cheese (how is that even possible!?!) wouldn’t be fat!  It’s the balance being out of balance.  Fats based on only animal products aren’t good in over consumption, but there are good fats that should be in the diet (olives, avocados, nuts, etc).  We need them to live. 

Wow!

Enjoy food, just remember the balance—limit the treats to special occasions and get all the fresh fruits and veggies regularly every day.   Your kids will really eat them too!  

©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis