PARENTS ONLY: keeping family & kids healthy & well

That is so wonderful for your kids. My youngest has Asperger's and will basically only eat "White foods" for the most part and refuses any meat or green veggies. He is a HUGE challenge. What I've noticed lately, is that the more I support my teenager with sports at school the more he looks forward to it and is excited to work his bottom off. We as parents are the examples, just their seeing us eat healthy can naturally rub off. I noticed this week that my entire bag of raw spinach is GONE. Seems as though he decided it was his food of choice this week. I almost fainted, lol. My point is that I realized it's because he has been watching me. It was a great feeling!

They did healthy month at school. Now my 5yo know what's healthy and what isn't.

We try to limit the junk we give. We have healthy dinners. The worst snacks in our house are goldfish and sometimes cookies (oatmeal). I try to push fruit instead (which they love). We switched to low sugar cereal. When they start kindergarten we'll walk there (20 minutes). I still take them to McDonald's once a week though.

I've raised 3 healthy, fit kids (one is a U.S. Marine!) and now have 4 grandkids.
What I've learned over the years is that you HAVE to get your kids away from technology and OUTSIDE. Take family hiking trips, go to a park, etc. Take them camping, play ball, do yard work together and make it fun!
Have the kids help you garden. They can help plant seeds, water and harvest healthy veggies and fruits. Then bring them in the house and have them help you wash and prepare some. Little kids loveee to help in the kitchen and they are more apt to try a new veggie if they see you 'working' with it and they get to help. My little 3 & 2 year old grandsons eat more vegetables than most adults I know.
Expose the kids to healthy vegetables & fruits at a young age and keep doing it! Set an example by preparing and eating them yourself daily. Pick colors of the rainbow and let them know that the brighter they are (or greener) the healthier they are. Tell them WHY we need to eat healthy foods. Show them the difference and tell them what each item can do for their body. It does take homework but it's so worth it! Even a 2 year old understands what the word 'strong' means. Eat something and tell him/her that it will help make them strong and show them your muscles. Do whatever it takes. lol
Keep the processed junk out of the house. Trust me, they get enough of it elsewhere.
As for keeping them well, a multi-vitamin can't hurt and hand washing often is a must.
Enjoy those little ones, make healthy, active memories together as a family and remember that teaching them good eating/exercise habits is a VERY, VERY important part of raising them!

I've got two of the pickiest eaters (the older one is starting to grow out of it a bit now). Even though I made baby food myself I have a hard time getting them to eat anything healthy. Especially the little one, its hard trying to teach them healthy habits when he turns up his nose at everything says ewe gross and refuses to eat it ... *sigh*. Trying to find new ways to sneak veggies and even meat in such a way he will eat it but running out of ideas, won't stop trying though!!

They did healthy month at school. Now my 5yo know what's healthy and what isn't.

We try to limit the junk we give. We have healthy dinners. The worst snacks in our house are goldfish and sometimes cookies (oatmeal). I try to push fruit instead (which they love). We switched to low sugar cereal. When they start kindergarten we'll walk there (20 minutes). I still take them to McDonald's once a week though.

Watch the dyes in cereals and snacks. They are worse than the sugar. Also watch the chemicals.

I totally agree and have always tried to feed my son the healthiest foods, and get him out exercising with me when we have time. I am proud to say we have not visited a McDonalds for over 4 years.

It gets harder as they get older, though. My son is 9 and for the last year or so has been embarrassed of the healthy school lunches I pack for him. He won't eat hardboiled eggs at school anymore because a kid made fun of them. (He LOVES them at home.) and he asks why I won't pack him the junk that every other kid seems to have. His best friend brings Oreos AND Doritos to school almost every day... And I get asked all the time why I won't do the same.

I start to wonder if I go too far in this? My own parents NEVER let me have junk growing up... I was the kid at school who had to bring rice cakes... And this was long before all the flavored ones... Lol... And sometimes I wonder if that was one of the reasons I later had obesity and binge eating issues.

LOVE this topic! I was the FAT kid my entire life and at 45 I am finally getting a handle on life long change!! So I want to teach my kids NOW what eating CLEAN means and building a healthy FIT lifestyle everyday!! I honestly believe GOD brought ViSalus and the 90 Day Challenge into my life - its been a blessings! 2 simple shakes a day - 2 healthy snacks - 1 healthy meal - its FAST and easy for me!! So I'm down 35 lbs and going for 15 more!! The BEST part - is I give my kids a shake a day too - they get FULL spectrum protein-based nutrition - all in a Snickers Shake. Or Butterfinger Vi-shake. So I'm feeding my kids GOOD stuff - now we get FREE shakes so its like feeding my kids for FREE - they are learning to make healthy choices and my son (age 8 he's already 100 lbs) is losing weight!! This family is making great changes and I feel like a "Hero Mom" ... all because of a simple shake!!

My little boy loves fitness. He wants to be strong like Mommy

However, it is very difficult to get him to eat healthy food. He loves fruit and meat but corn is the only vegetable he'll eat. I introduce a little bit here and there but it's a struggle. He told me he'll eat vegetables when he's grown up :huh:

I have 2 kids - a son who will be 4 in June and a daughter who'll be 2 in May. They're both very different, and my son has always eaten very little and had to be bribed to eat, and my daughter is the complete opposite and will run down the hallway in excitement when I tell her dinner is ready.

I weaned them both at 6 months, and i've always made their food myself. The only time my son had food from jars was when my MIL bought it, and my daughter has never once had food from a jar.

They naturally seem to like healthy food and I guess they just learn from seeing us eat. We always cook from scratch. My son seems to really like things like eggs, chicken, tuna...protein. They both like fruit, and my daughter will eat pretty much anything you put in front of her. They've never been to Mcdonalds/KFC etc. I don't make separate meals for them, they just have what we do.

They always stop eating when they're full and I never force them to finish their meal if they can't.

Of course they have unhealthy things from time to time. They like crisps, but I usually buy Walkers Baked ones, or the Organix ones. Occasionally they have biscuits. And from time to time they get a bit of chocolate. I just buy something like chocolate discs, and they get 1 or 2. I'd never give them a whole chocolate bar. Usually we prefer to bake our own treats, like little cakes or something.

They both love exercise. We live by the sea and we take them out on their scooters a lot on the promenade. We go out every day i'm not at work (i work part time). My son does gymnastics lessons.

I have a 5 year old that is super picky and does not like to try new things and a 16 year old that will eat just about anything. I know that I am to blame for my kid's eating habbits and I am trying to change that now. My 5 year old used to love fruit and veggies until he was about 3....then he didn't want anymore. It was easier at the time just to give him what he wanted. Which I know was a HUGE mistake. So I am slowly introducing those healthy foods back into his life. He is now loving bananas, apples, and grapes. I am still having a hard time with the veggies though. I make sure he gets them in his spaghetti sauce.

I will continue to get my kids eating healthier since I am the one who dropped the ball. But hey, we as parents make mistakes. So I won't beat myself up over it.

We have 3 kids. 10, 5 and 3. Food is a huge thing in our house, since we all have allergies. 3 of the 5 of us are 100% gluten free (I have Celiacs, and my 3 year old son most likely does as well. My 10 year old can tolerate only very small amounts) We are also dairy, corn, soy, tree nut and peanut free. Everthing has to be cooked by us and we have to know exactly what is in everything. All our kids have a night each week that they are in charge of planning a cooking a meal, even the 3 year old. (with help of course) They will know how to cook when they leave our house. And we try not to make food the center of anything. Parties, family functions etc. are not planned around food, they are planned around the people we are going to see, and the things we are going to do. Food is an after-thought.

We do not force a clean plate, and we do not force the kids to try things if they don't want too. Our 5 year will not eat veggies, and thats fine. She'll pick them up now and sniff them, which is something she wouldn't do a year ago. Eventually she might take a bite lol. She does have to have them on her plate.

We have snacks, but they aren't terribly exciting. Rice cakes and crackers, fruit and veggies, pepperoni sticks, hard boiled eggs. My kids will be the odd ones that have that stuff in their lunches because there are not a ton of other options, and they really don't care. The only one who even knows there is a different way of eating is my 10 year old, and she would pick spinach over a cookie any day. They have never had lucky charms, pop tarts or lunchables, and never will under our roof.

And they are active. During the summer we go to the park every day, we ride bikes, hike, jump on the trampoline etc. During the winter we are less active (very cold here) but they don't sit in front of the tv either. And they all have their own little weights so they can do that along with me if they want.

Some of the best knowledge we can pass along to them is how to cook, what to eat and how to stay active. If they decide to use that info is up to them.

My child eat a large variety of food. Kids need more then adults, more of everything. My son eat what I do, and then he eats hot pockets and totinos and buffalo strips and cookies. He sighs every night for dinner because of the amount of veggies on his plate, but then he gets a cookie or cereal or chocolate milk if he wants it. he *does* like most of the veggies, as evidenced by his second and third helping he generally takes.

I think it's extremely important to teach kids that 2 cookies is find, the entire box is not and the *real* reason behind it.. not just mommy said so. I'm attempting to teach my son to cook.. he's slowly coming along.. I want him to know the difference between a healthy plate of food and an unhealthy one.

i'm not an advocate of "hide the veggies" I put them on his plate and expect him to eat them. All of them.. and it's quite a bit.. but my son is a big kid. (bigger then me at 13!! (not fat very skinny)) I want him to learn proper eating so he doesn't follow the footsteps of my dad, his dad or my brother.

I have a two year old and so far we are doing good. From the beginning we kept junk food away from her and did not eat it around her. She's had the occasional cookie and cupcake/ chocolate but it's rare. I think what has helped us is that my husband and I don't drink soda or juice so there's none in the house ever. She's gotten used to water and asks for it. Her other drink is whole organic milk. She's also gotten used to fruits as a go to snack because we've been offering that from the beginning. For veggies she likes sweet potatoes and squash.

I also find the sectional plates have helped me a lot in making a decision on what to serve, and helped her in separating the food into small sections. For example, a chicken wrap will be divided into a section of chicken, shredded cheese, diced apple and cut up whole grain wrap with a cup of water on the side. She'll eat everything that way as opposed to wrapping the ingredients together.

I got inspired by Candace Bure (DJ from full house) after reading an article about her. She mentioned that she started her kids early with veggies and fruit and they learned to love them without a struggle. The idea is to introduce the wholesome foods at the start and keep away junk. Teach them to have a treat occasionally and as they understand more explain why the treat is not a daily thing.

Other tips I use is getting to know how the little one likes her/ his food. For example, she does not like jelly with peanut butter together. Only the peanut butter on bread. Also sometimes they go through phases of liking something then refusing it. My daughter does this with bananas and cuties. The times she refuses them we move on to another food and she'll eat them again on her own will. Presentation and shapes also helps. I use cookie cutters to shape toast, wraps etc. It makes it fun for them. Leading by example does help as well. I couldn't believe it when my little one was munching on baby spinach! It's because it's been my daily side dish and she's copying me. I was so excited I called my husband right away, lol:)