Helpful Hints

For a new consulting job, I developed handouts for the kids and their parents. I thought I would pass this one along.

Helpful Hints for Parents:

*Try to plan regular family meals where everyone eats together around the same time each day. Discourage snacking an hour or two before or after a meal or before bedtime. Make meals the primary time for eating.

*Remove all unhealthy snacks, foods, and drinks from the house and replace them with a variety of healthy foods and snacks, i.e. nuts, fruit, vegetable sticks, no sugar added all-natural nut butters, whole-grain breads and tortillas, all-natural cheese, dried fruit, all-natural low calorie popcorn. Try to avoid and remove all highly processed foods and drinks.

*Be a role model for your kids by eating healthy yourself. Practice and encourage mindful eating where you think before and while you eat, instead of eating just to eat or watching T.V. while you eat.

*Avoid fighting over food; try to serve healthy meals and let the kids choose what and how much to eat of what you serve. Meal time should be a wonderful time of day where everyone gathers, talks, and eats together.

*Avoid being a short order cook. If your kid does not want to eat what you have prepared, have them stay until meal time is over, but do not force them to eat or make them something else. They will not starve from missing a meal or two, and they will learn to listen to their own hunger cues.

*Involve your kids in the process of buying food and preparing it. At the grocery store, decide together whether items are healthy or not. Then cook with your kids, so they will be more apt to try the food, and they will learn how to cook healthy themselves.

*Try to plan meals in advance, so as to avoid making a quick, highly processed convenient meal with low nutrient value.

*Do not give up on a new food because your kid will not eat it. It takes kids (and often adults) time to adapt to a new food or preparation before it becomes familiar to them.