Kids and Food Choices
I have a couple of questions for the parents out there that bodybuild and get fit.
Kids and food Choices (I did put diets, but to be fair, kids shouldn’t be dieting).
Now, I’m not a father yet (trying) but I like to think that when I am, I’ll educate my kids into making the right choices when it comes to food.
I was watching one of DeborahAnn’s videos and she mentioned that her cupboards have some sort of junk food for the kids, but she doesn’t eat it herself (I understand, because I live with in-laws, and that’s the situation, 2/3rds of the cupboard is thier’s and filled with junk food, the rest is mine and the wife’s).
Now what I would like to know is how far do you go with kids and their food choices. Do you make them eat chicken and brocolli because you know that the chips they have is no good for them, or do you let them eat what they want as long as their moving?
I mean when I was younger, I had the sugary stuff but McD’s/pizza hut/chips were not an everyday occasion. Actually maybe the chips were the weekly friday meal, but there was no way it was big macs everyday?
Take my nephew, he’s just turned 5 and he’s already gone to the dentist and found out that he’s got a hole in his tooth. His diet isn’t that stellar either, chips, dino nuggets, diet lemonade,etc. I mean it’s only now that he’s kinda interested in what he eats as he wants to be like his Uncle D, and grow up to be nice and strong. He wanted me to bench press him yesterday and then he wanted to bench press me (I basically did pushups while offering him some tiny resistance). He’s always telling me now that he has eatten all of his carrots,etc. A good thing is that he’s so active that he’s a skinny runt. I like to think we point out the good points rather than saying No, you can’t have this or that.
Anyway back to what I was saying, because the wife and I don’t have fizzy drinks, crisps, or even that much bread, what’s going to happen when he do have a kid, do we comprimise and allow some treats? I understand that kids tastebuds are more sensitive, so while I can have chicken, porridge,etc till the cows come home, they require more variety.
I don’t know, i just hope that I’ll raise my kids good and educate (not preach) the importance of being healthy. I mean the wife and I are predisposed to being fat, so we’ve been there so we know what it’s like.
I just think that bar a medical problem, there really shouldn’t be obese kids up to a certain age (esp say up to the age of 9/10) as I think that the parents tend to control what there kids eat (This is just my opinion at this stage, I’ll come back when I have a 9/10 and update the viewpoint 
).
Comments would be welcome (if you can get through the tangents within the post).
August 10, 2008 at 3:02 am
Hello,
Especially kids have to eat healthy!My oldest son(almost5)eats as healthy as I do,just the occasional sweets(at most 10 little things a month)he doesnt crave sweets and junk food at all.I have to say,I never went with him to a fast food restaurant and never bought junk food either.When he was around 1 1/2-2years old I introduced him to the kitchen and its possibilities,he loves to chop up vegetables and help making the food,we also go shopping together for the ingredients to make a good tasting meal.He loves it!
He is very healthy and has perfect teeth.
I never forced him to eat healthy,I just explained the difference of healthy and junk to him.It seemed reasonal to him and he decided to go this way.When he was younger he just got what I ate,with the extra amount of carbs(like oats,dark bread,more potatoes than I could eat
In junkfood is mononatriumglutamat,which is in discussion of causing cancer and it is a reason for ADHS in children as well.All the E s are bad too,not to mention the amount of salt and sugar in junkfood and sweets.
If you teach your kids from the beginning and let them help making healthy food,they will be so proud what they can do and eat about everthing.My son eats spinach,brocolli…It just needs a little effort and your kids will thank you later in their life,because they dont have to deal with overweight,diabetes,bad teeth…
I hope I could help you a little:)
I wish you the best!
Sarah
August 10, 2008 at 10:22 am
Hi D.,
You have to get your kids on board to having a health life style, then when they are older they may not want to eat at the fastfood places and they would want to go home and prepare a veggie plate. But you have to get the while thay are young. It’s great that your wife is already eating good so it will be a much easer transition for you and the kids.
Keep them out of the snack closet, and they will not miss what they don’t have. Don’t buy it and that will not miss it. And tell your In-law’s not to give it to them.
Pam
August 22, 2008 at 10:05 pm
As a father myself, I can definitely say your kids’ habits will largely reflect your own. If you eat healthy, they will. Remember that your taste buds know what Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and all that "good junk" tastes like; your kids have no idea. What they will know and see is the eating habits of you and your wife. I knew many kids in high school who never went to McD’s and it even seemed gross to some of them. Just because we grew up with it doesn’t mean we should let our kids grow up with it out of some sense of obligation.
Treats are okay now and again, but make them healthy treats. Sugary and greasy snacks are not necessarily a rite of passage for kids. Just model good eating habits and they’ll join in, mainly because they rely on you for their example when they’re young. Once school hits, you’ll have to contend with their peers’ eating habits, but hopefully by then a healthy lifestyle will have been ingrained on them. I’m a good example for this; I grew up on McD’s and unfortunately so have my kids. Trying to get them to taste the healthy foods now is difficult. Thank goodness for some fast food joints switching to healthier alternatives, like apple slice instead of fries. It’s making things a bit easier, but the best bet would have been to drive right past McDonald’s and head for Subway instead.
Now that I’m more health conscious, it’s rubbing off on the kids. For example, in our house, the perfect "snack" for our kids (all 5 of them!) comes in the form of Nabisco’s 100 calorie snack packs. It’s just the right size for them, it’s a break from the norm, and it’s not too much. My kids love the sun chips.
So yeah - my advice: model healthy eating and don’t pay any attention to those staples of our own childhood if at all possible. And if you do, make it a very special event, a family night out. After all, your kids will need to learn that it’s okay to let go once in awhile, so long as it’s not the norm.