Today, we learned SOOO much about nutrition and healthy eating (for us and our kids). Our speaker taught us some wonderful tips about making food fun for picky eaters, involving our children in meal preparations, reading labels, and rules for healthy eating.
Some ways to make food fun for picky eaters include naming a food your child helps create (such as "Dawn's Salad" or "Peter's Sweet Potatoes), cutting a food into fun and easy shapes with cookie cutters, encouraging your child to invent and help prepare new snacks or sandwiches, and jazzing up the taste of veggies with low-fat dressings or dips.
Some "label traps" to watch out for:
"Reduced Fat" = more sugar and same/more calories than full-fat equivalent
"Lite" = only 1/3 fewer calories than regular
"Good Source" = 10% of RDA for that specific vitamin or mineral
"High in Antioxidants" = only needs to have 10% of RDA for vitamins A,C,E or selenium
"Trans-Fat Free" = can have up to 1/2 gram of trans-fat. If partially hydrogenated oil is listed on ingredients, there is some trans fat in the product.
Some other great tips included: let kids help (buying food at the store, preparing the meal, setting the table), turn off the TV and eat with family whenever possible, limit juice to 4-6 oz per day, make it easy for kids to make healthy choices by having them available in the house, and BE A GOOD ROLE MODEL!!!
Julie's 6 rules for healthy eating:
1. if you can't pronounce the ingredients, pass it up!
2. Apple pie is NOT a fruit
3. DON'T be a member of the "clean plate club"; stop eating when full
4. a moderate diet is a healthy diet
5. choose WHOLE foods
6. eat at least 3 meals a day and plan ahead
For more nutrition information, visit the following recommended websites:
www.mypyramid.gov
www.eatright.org/public
www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov
www.healthierus.gov
www.nutrition.gov
www.womenshealth.gov
www.foodallergy.org
This blog is dedicated to the Moms of Influence group at Northbrook Church in Richfield, WI.
