How to stop passing unhealthy food habits to kids?

Lovee_Dove7

I changed my diet totally at the beginning of this year. I got out cutting boards, assorted vegetables and started making stir-fry, saute and salads and soup, roasted meats/fish/chicken and omelets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I didn't expect anybody to eat like me but all my young children totally copied me and now make these same things in the kitchen with me. It really shocks me to see them volunteer to eat salad or stir-fry for breakfast. It smells awesome and the colorful veggies/kitchen tools look like fun, so then they wanted to do it, too. It's been a wonderful side-benefit to losing 30 unhealthy pounds and gaining awesome health and eating habits!

BurnWithBarn2015

lakshva wrote: »

I didn't mean restricting kids from having any food. But how do you think we can teach kids to have a healthy relationship with food? At times I wonder if watching me measuring each and every food can have a reverse impact on kids!! What are those habits which you feel you could have learned bit earlier?

What all the others say...but what is important also is:

Tell them postivly why you weigh your food.

So NOT i weigh because i can not have more of this food

But

I weigh to know if i get enough or the right nutrition's.

Be positive and casual ...after all it is normal to fee your body the right (amount) of nutrition's. But also that piece of pizza or ice cream.

Be casual

soulofgrace

Model healthy habits. Period. Words sound like the adults in Charlie Brown to them. Mwah mwah mwah. And yes, as was said above, parenting is brutal business. Go easy on yourself. We can never teach them everything they need to know. They will need to make their own mistakes.

cjsgrimlin1

My kids can teach me some things!! But both my girls are underweight for their age (9 and 7) so i do make them eat their food which is not usually a huge amount left (one to two bites) but their little bodies need it. My eldest is taking medication which reduces her appetite so i have to continually watch what she is eating... Oh your hungry? No you cannot have a cookie until you have some real food first. BUT its because she is almost 4'8" and under 60lb. So she needs to eat the nutrient dense foods first but i don't deprive her. and she will tell me mom that isn't healthy for you!

Kimegatron

Francl27 wrote: »

Kimegatron wrote: »

The clean plate club is the reason I HAD TO FINISH everything on my plate in any setting. I have eaten until I could be sick my entire life. It's something my parents regret, I think, and I'm not going to do that to my kid. Sometimes she will eat her fruit first, and only want a few bites of her sandwich.

Well, it depends. I make my kids finish their plates, but I don't give them much food, and they say that they are hungry and want dessert 30 minutes later, so... you bet they're going to finish their plates first...

As I said though, we all blame our parents - either they restricted too much, or they let you eat everything you wanted like mine... I'm starting to think that it just depends on the kids in the end - some kids will naturally stop eating when they're not hungry, some won't stop until they're stuffed because they just really love food. My kids say no to dessert or don't finish it sometimes - that would have NEVER happened with me. I was talking to my mom about how my kids get crazy sometimes when we eat out and she said that never happened to us because we loved eating too much.

So IMO it really mostly depends on the kids, so again, it's really a crapshoot.

I once sat at the dinner table alone for hours and wasn't allowed to leave until it was all gone. I cried while eating just so I could go to bed. I was like 6. Trust me, I talked about this a lot when I used to go to therapy lol

cjsgrimlin1

Kimegatron wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Kimegatron wrote: »

The clean plate club is the reason I HAD TO FINISH everything on my plate in any setting. I have eaten until I could be sick my entire life. It's something my parents regret, I think, and I'm not going to do that to my kid. Sometimes she will eat her fruit first, and only want a few bites of her sandwich.

Well, it depends. I make my kids finish their plates, but I don't give them much food, and they say that they are hungry and want dessert 30 minutes later, so... you bet they're going to finish their plates first...

As I said though, we all blame our parents - either they restricted too much, or they let you eat everything you wanted like mine... I'm starting to think that it just depends on the kids in the end - some kids will naturally stop eating when they're not hungry, some won't stop until they're stuffed because they just really love food. My kids say no to dessert or don't finish it sometimes - that would have NEVER happened with me. I was talking to my mom about how my kids get crazy sometimes when we eat out and she said that never happened to us because we loved eating too much.

So IMO it really mostly depends on the kids, so again, it's really a crapshoot.

I once sat at the dinner table alone for hours and wasn't allowed to leave until it was all gone. I cried while eating just so I could go to bed. I was like 6. Trust me, I talked about this a lot when I used to go to therapy lol

Been there myself too. I dont force my kids to do that one. If they cant finish in half and hour (or and hour if they have been talking like my youngest loves to do) thats it. No sweets. It goes in the fridge and if they say they are hungry before bed thats what they have to finish.


Which RARELY happens anymore.

shrcpr

I didn't gain this weight I have now until after my son left the house but I have had to work to maintain a healthy weight since some weight gain/loss in my teen years. I would echo the lead by example with the example being moderation. I never forced to my son to eat food he didn't like as there was plenty of healthy food he did like (and heck, I don't eat things I hate) and I figured he knew when he was hungry and when he was full. We always had lots of good, easy food to eat like fruit, yogurt, stuff like that. As for "junk food" we just made it a habit if we wanted some, we would portion out some and just have that. For instance, if we wanted cookies, we would take a couple cookies and put the bag way and not just sit there mindlessly eating out of the bag. We did a lot of exercise as well, both formal exercise and stuff like biking, hiking, swimming, etc. It seems to have rubbed off as he's always been very active and a healthy weight.

All that said, I also agree with the "raising kids is a crapshoot" comments and at some point they'll make their own decision and there's not much we can do about that.

pollypocket1021

My oldest had a nutrition unit in school and came home from school afraid of sugar. So we had our own little biochem lesson and talked about how sugar is good, as are protein and fat, and you need a good balance of the three to support healthy growth and development.

When they need guidance in making different food choices, I will go over the macronutrient content and they use that info to make their choice. That is how I finally got the oldest to eat eggs.

My approach to food and diet was similar to my approach to "where do babies come from." Honest, straightforward, and so thoroughly grounded in science that their little eyes glaze over.