How to Teach Children Healthy Eating Habits

[Dia Minha]

How were you taught to eat while growing up? What are some things that your parents did that you do different? What are some things you do the same? What do you do to teach your children how to eat healthy? Do you insist on your children eating certain foods? Do you insist them to clear their plate? Are your children not allowed to eat certain foods? How often do you let your children have a "treat"?

Don't feel like you have to answer all of these questions to post here. I just wanted to get you all thinking and this is the best way I know how.

[Dia Minha]

Growing up in a family of 11 kids was hard. Especially being one of the very youngest. If I saw something that I wanted to eat, I learned to eat it right away, because It probably wouldn't be there later.

My mom did not serve healthy meals. It was mostly meat and potatoes or rice. We had fresh fruits and vegtables on the farm, but it wasn't like it was served regularly at every meal. I was never made to eat anything I did not want. Nor were there any restrictions. I never had to clear my plate and could have seconds of whatever I wanted.

For my kids I have at least one fruit or veggie at every meal. For dinner at least two and a lot of the time three. I encourage them to eat more veggies, but they are not required to. They also do not have to clean their plate. I let my children make their own eating choices. I do not keep treats or snacks in my house, but they can go to the store with me anytime to spend their allowance on them, if that is what the choose to do. I'm hoping this teaches them they always have a choice. I believe this will keep them from rebelling once they have more freedom in when and where they eat and they will continue to make healthier choices.

I talk to my children a lot about making healthy choices. My children know how to make healthy choices. The oldest have already been able to tell the difference in how they feel when they make a healthier choice. I believe this will help them to continue to make these choices, because they have already been able to establish at such a young age that they feel better and have more energy when they eat better. Even if they do rebell, they will always know that and hopefully it will bring them back.

I'm teaching my children the difference between loosing weight to be skinny and loosing weight to be healthy. I do this by trying very hard never to complain about the way I look in front of them. Because WW is very much a part of my life they are aware. However, when the question me about loosing weight I tell them I'm trying to loose weight, because it is not healthy for me to be this heavy. I want them to know it is a feeling and not just the way I look. Hopefully this is teaching them that eating healthy is a feeling and that the way the look isn't as important as the way they feel.

[Meticulous madness]

Good questions, Dia! I am fascinated with this very thing.

We didn't have junk food in my house growing up. We didn't have convenience foods, except on road trips or picnics. My parents were both really good at baking and cooking from scratch. I don't remember ever using pre-made mixes (i.e. brownies, cookies, muffins or pancakes). It never looked like we had food around at all, our fridge and cupboards seemed really bare (other than produce items). But we always had wonderful well-rounded meals. We rarely ever ate out. It was a special occasion to have a meal anywhere but our home. As much as I truly loved my childhood and didn't feel deprived back then...I think there are some deep-rooted deprivation issues I struggle with now.

If we did eat out back then, we didn't ask for a soda with our meals, we got water. I think if we did order a soda (my rebel brother did a few times) it really wouldn't have been a big deal. My parents would have allowed us to do it. But we just FELT like our parents didn't want to spend the extra amount and thought it wasn't healthy anyway.

I had never been through a McDonalds drive-thru (that I could honestly remember) until I was 17 years old with a guy friend. It's kind of a funny story actually. I thought this guy was driving off without his food (once he'd paid) and I started panicking, telling him to back up or pull over. He looked at me really funny as he slowly drove up and stopped at the SECOND window to pick up his food. I was so embarrassed.

Anyway, (like LNF) when I could drive and got my own job and was old enough to date...life seriously changed. I ate out all the time (probably more because I was NEVER home anymore). If I was out on a date, you better believe my date was getting me a diet coke or sprite to go with my meal. It felt like a right of passage or something. If a guy ever made me feel like I shouldn't order a soda, he was a GONER.

Obviously, my whole family eats out a ton now (it's just the way life is these days) and everybody drinks their fair share of soda, too. But, I do long for a nostalgic setting of home-cooked meals and moderation in ALL things (as my parents were a great example of). You'd think it's be easier for me to give up my bad habits, knowing my roots.

My parents were pretty picky about us eating everything we put on our own plates. I don't remember being limited on anything, or being forced to eat things I didn't like. We were required to TRY everything, before claiming we didn't like it. It created a family of "adventurous" eaters.

I think they did pretty good over-all. But, I do find that my fast-food eating habits, and soda-consumption (and the emotional needs behind them) probably just originated from some of the things I feel I didn't get enough of as a kid. I definitely don't BLAME them (because I think they were healthy and smart), but I do think it's interesting to connect the dots.

[runamyrun]

These have been very interesting to read. And it is interesting how we have a lot of the same feelings.

I feel like my mom did a good job with food. She made sure to have balanced meals. We really didn't have very much junk food around the house. And when I was little, we rarely ate out. I think money was more of an issue with eating out. I think our meals were pretty normal for most families. Usually it centered around some kind of meat or a casserole. I have never been very fond of meat, so my mom always made sure to have a couple of different veggies that I could fill up on. I don't think we were deprived with treats, because my mom would bake or my dad would pick up a treat at the store. We just didn't keep it around the house constantly. One thing that hasn't been good for us (but is fun!) is that whenever we have a family gathering, it seems to be centered around food. And we have to have a lot of it, and it is usually not low fat. We also have a hard time controlling our portions. And as I got older, we ate out more. Unfortunately, my mom and grandparents are diabetic. And the rest of my family is overweight. The fear of becoming diabetic is one of the reasons I work so hard to be healthy.

When I got married, I was excited to be able to buy whatever I wanted. My DH loves cereal (especially sugar cereal) so I started going crazy with it. We rarely had anything other than Malt o Meal brand Cheerios or Raisin Bran. After a couple of years of doing that, I got tired of feeling crummy, so now I only eat real Cheerios (I hate the Malt O Meal kind!).

I think the difference between my cooking and my mom's is that mine is usually lower in fat (but still yummy) and I like to cram in more veggies (like when it is spaghetti sauce I put a lot more veggies than the recipe calls for). I think I also cook with less meat.

I think that for the most part we do the same thing. I try to serve well balanced meals (I'm not trying very hard right now, though!).

We do talk a lot about what is good for our bodies. While we eat veggies or fruit, we talk about how good it is for our body. And while we eat treats, we talk about how it is okay to do once in a while, but not all the time. We also talk about how if we eat too many treats or too much of anything and don't get any exercise we will get too much fat on our bodies. And when that happens, our bodies aren't as healthy and we can get diabetes or other health problems. I think for my DH and I, the biggest thing we do to teach our children to be healthy, is that DH and I run. We also like to hike and do other things outdoors, so we hope we are setting a good example for them.

I refuse to make two dinners, so we make our kids at least try a couple bites of their dinner. If they really don't like it, they can make a peanut butter sandwich. We do insist that they eat some kind of veggie, but I usually let each kid pick one of the veggies I am going to make. They do not have to finish the food on their plate.

I have been horrible about treats lately. Last year I bought a whole bunch of fruit rollups and granola bars, with my coupon shopping. I planned on using it for Primary, school lunch, camping and just for a treat. I way over bought. My 2 year old daughter would probably eat 10 fruit rollups a day if I let her. I have been letting her have too many of them, though. Once they are gone, I am not going to buy them again unless it is for a special occasion. We do not need them in the house. I would prefer that they eat fruit for a treat. But, I still plan on us eating treats. I don't want to be deprived!

[Erudite]

Hmmmm...looking back, I'd say I was taught pretty well. My Mom was good about veggies at the meals, and fruit too. When it was in season, we pulled it off the trees and out of season, we ate it out of bottles. I came from a family of 11 too, and we weren't rich. I don't remember feeling like I had to eat it now if it wouldn't be there, but I know some of my siblings had those feelings. I just remember the "yucky" foods, that I wouldn't serve my family EVER, that we ate because they were inexpensive and could feed our large family: tuna casserole, cabbage rolls, and zucchini boats. We still tease our Mom about those items, but I do remember hating stuff like cooked oatmeal for breakfast and split pea soup and I love those things now.

I think I do a few more fresh things than my Mom could, but other than that, I still serve her meatloaf, her enchilada casserole, and her potato salad, among other things.

We insist that the kids eat something "green" with dinner. I try to push fruit on them for breakfast and lunch. I came from a "clean your plate" family, which I NEVER make my kids do, because I want them to choose, but my 11yo ds is terribly thin because he doesn't eat enough. He's terribly picky, so we do make him eat a few more bites than he would choose to. We want our kids to be a little more adventurous with eating, but still able to choose to stop eating. Not an easy line to walk, but I try new recipes fairly often, so they have to try everything on their plate at least.

I probably let my kids have too many treats because I like them so well and I can't really be sneaking treats in my own house and not give some to them (though there is the occasional VTer treat that the kids never see ).

Anyway, that's our eating plan!

[missypoohsticks]

My kids get one, yes you read right, one, snack a day, before naps. I try to make it a healthy snack, but not always. Treats like cookies, brownies, cake etc haven't really been an option at our house for a couple of years because of food allergies, and pre-packaged food has been rare as well because most of them have ingredients that DD is allergic to. Now that she is overcoming some of those allergies, I find myself backsliding a little bit, so this is interesting. I guess the big thing is that my kids are not allowed to snack all day, it drives me CRAZY!!!