Growing up, I was raised in a pretty healthy household. I did have the occasional junk food when it was appropriate, such as friend’s birthday parties, family gatherings, etc.. However, having children of my own, I realized that I ate healthy because my parents ate healthy, and that’s all I knew since the time I was born. With that in mind, I knew I had to be a good example for my children. I can’t tell my children to healthy when I am filling up on junk. Our children follow our lead, and we definitely have to set a good example because they will eat what we eat.
Shockingly, more than half a million 4-year-olds are obese, and the number of overweight and obese children in 10 to 17 year olds are at or above 30 percent in 30 states. With that being said, most of these children grow up to become obese adults with all sorts of weight related health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Being a parent myself, this worries me greatly because what my children eat can be greatly affected by what their peers eat. For example, if my daughter is eating a whole wheat avocado sandwich with blueberries and her friends are eating chicken nuggets with cheetos, she might feel like an outsider and want to convert her eating habits.
When trying to teach my children about healthy eating choices, I lead by example. I found that to be the easiest because my 3 year old, looks up to me, and she mimics my every move. If I eat grapes, she wants to eat it. When I indulge in a cupcake, she is right there by my side. My family and I shop fresh. We go to our local farmers market to buy our fruits and vegetables. While we do our shopping, my daughter walks around sampling all of California’s finest.
When my daughter was just eating within the confines of our household, she ate really healthy with the occasional snacks that would be brought by grandparents and our own friends. We did not have any problems trying to get her to eat healthy because all we had were healthy foods. However, once she went to preschool, it was a different story. She wanted to eat what her friends were eating. What’s sad was that most of them were eating non-healthy foods. Of course, I had to figure out ways to feed her healthy (refer back to post on August 25th), but more importantly I had to ask her why and listen.
One day, when we went to the farmer’s market, we made it an educational day. Everytime I would buy something, I would explain what sort of benefit it would have on our health. For example, when we bought carrots, I said it was for our eyes and for our vision. With every vegetable and fruit, my daughter was being educated and she was having fun. After that trip, she started to make associations between food items and her health. Eating should be fun, and by teaching her by example, she can understand what sort of impact healthy eating has on her health.
For me, leading by example and showing the impact that food has on health, has taught my daughter to make healthy eating choices. I don’t shun junk food, but I try to steer my daughter to a healthier alternative. If she wants a bag of potato chips, I have her get the baked chips, and if she wants chocolate chips cookies, we get ones that are not completely fat ridden. Showing her that she can eat those snacks and still maintain a healthy eating habit is really important in showing her choices and options.
Sometimes making healthy choices is not as simple as 1-2-3. If you have any questions, advice, or want to get some healthy recipes, please visit http://www.momlogic.com/eating_right_kids/.
(Disclosure Notice: I have been hired by Warner Brothers to participate in the Looney Tunes Eating Right Kids Program.)
