Hellobee Boards

I don't think there's one approach that "works" 100% of the time--so much depends on the individual. I look at my own family as an example--I'm one of 6 kids. My mom really only had healthier foods in the house growing up, except for holidays. Like no sodas, no white bread, no candy or chocolates or sugar cereals or bought cookies....that type of thing.

I definitely have a sweet tooth and struggle to stay away from all of those things as an adult. But of the 6 of us, I'd say 3 are very healthy adults who also work out, really care about "clean" foods, have great bmi's etc. My little sister and I are kind of medium--like we love our junk food, but day to day we eat pretty healthy. We could both stand to lose 10-15 lbs but are not technically overweight (well, when I'm not pregnant).

And I have one extremely overweight sister. Who also has an extremely overweight son. Extreme as in...they are each almost 200 lbs overweight. Just from what I've observed as an outsider, 90% of their foods are very unhealthy (think fried, breaded, salted, packaged, no vegetables, etc).

All raised in the same house. Weird isn't it?

My parents didn't have junk food in the house. No chips, no candy, no cookies, no sugary cereal, no microwave convenience foods.

I don't crave most things junk wise chips, pop, fast food I don't have an issue. But cookies and chocolate I can't control myself... But maybe if I'd had it more as a kid I'd be the same? I think you're going to crave what you're going to crave.

I think the same thing is true for television!

They say the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest and I think this is true with most things! Though personality and genetic preferences play into it too! We eat our meals together which is often a pain with 3 kids and generally have pretty healthy things available. I allow our kids to have cake, lemonade and things like that on special occasions and I don't stress about it (though I do hide candy from pinata and halloween, etc.). I have gotten way more lax overtime, but we also try to make healthy food fun too (allowing my kids (with supervision) to make pesto, chimichurri sauce, etc. in the mini food processor, ginger kale smoothies with curly straws, freezing fruit on skewers, eating seafood out of the shell, calling broccoli trees and green beans snakes and always offering a "dipping" sauce if they aren't loving a particular item). Some days they are better eaters than others, but It may be genetic too though as my husband and I love all food so that helps!

I think healthy eating when kids are really young is important because I do believe it "sets" their taste buds at least to some extent on what they like and all eat. This was particularly important to me because I ate total crap as a kid and as an adult I still struggle a lot because I hate most healthy food (veggies, roasted meats, etc). I think if a kid grows up eating and liking healthy foods, even if they overdo it with crappy food later in life, they still have healthy food to fall back on when they are motivated to be healthy. It's always going to be easier to eat healthy when you like healthy food.

But we don't plan to ban food. At this point I don't feel like it comes into play because our LO is so young (14 mo) so she always eats with us and is still getting used to solids so why not just feed her healthy stuff. But as she gets older we'll allow her to eat whatever in moderation.

I don't know - I think it just depends on the individual.

Growing up I was forced to eat everything on my plate including all the veggies.. As an adult I hate most veggies. I will eat them sometimes just because I know they are good for me but I don't like them.
Sweets weren't held back - we had tons of juice boxes - as an adult I eat sweets in moderation but cant stand drinking calories.

My niece wasn't allowed to have candy and my SIL said when she did have access she hoarded it - she would eat an entire family size bag of candy in one sitting - ugh, that cant be healthy.

My kids get everything in moderation. They don't like juice, they prefer and ask for water but on the weekends they get a sprite or root beer as a treat and then come Monday they ask for water again.

I think what's most important is encouraging a healthy relationship with food, rather than specific instructions on what TO eat (veggies! lean proteins!) and what NOT to eat (sugar! starch!). I don't want my girls growing up thinking that they need to eat certain things in order to avoid guilt (because, let's face it, if certain foods are deemed "bad," there will always be some sort of guilt associated with them). When there is "good food" and "bad food," it's too easy for one's relationship with food to become emotional, which is a category it should not fall into.

I want to strive to teach my girls that food fuels their body. It gives them energy, it makes them strong, and they wouldn't be able to do all the things they love to do without proper fuel, so they should eat accordingly. However, treats are not off limits, either. You ate your dinner and want a cookie? Great! It's sunny and hot and you want a sugary popsicle? Sure thing! You already had 2 glasses of water today? Okay, here's some chocolate milk. I want to teach them to eat when you're hungry and stop eating when you're full. Don't be afraid to eat in front of others or get your face messy with spaghetti. You are not, by any means, what you eat, and food does NOT define you!

I guess the moral of the story for me is that balance is key. In my household, the food rules will always be this: stay active. Take good care of your body so you can do the things you love (ballet. biking. climbing. jumping rope.). Eat what you want. I feel that if you don't act as if certain things are "bad" (ohh honey, you can have a tiny, eensy, weensy sliver of brownie) then they won't grow up wanting to binge eat or make unhealthy choices. I have no problem with the fact that my girls love chicken nuggets and fries and fruit by the foot and ice cream, because they also love broccoli and brussels sprouts and water and blueberries.

I grew up with a mom who is completely obsessed with her diet and she daily said things like "Well, it's okay for me to eat this slice of cake because I am just not going to eat tomorrow." or "I am not eating today because Dad and I are going to a steakhouse for our anniversary tomorrow."
That kind of limitation is exactly what I want to avoid.

@Rainbow Sprinkles: Was going to write something along these lines, but you nailed it!

@Rainbow Sprinkles: Yes, totally agree. DH and I both have immediate family members with serious food issues ranging from obesity to anorexia so this is always on my mind.

I think another way to frame things is not to focus on healthy vs unhealthy foods, but just introduce a wide variety of foods and indicate that some foods should be eaten more than others. It's important for me and DH that LO is exposed to many different types of foods, even if they aren't necessarily "healthy" because we don't want her to be picky later on like our families are. So things like berries or bell peppers or cheese are foods that LO can have as snacks every day if she wants, but things like cookies, or dim sum, or burritos are all "weekend" foods in our household.

When I talk about healthy foods, I also try to keep the focus on the why's behind it instead of just "it's good for you" or "it's healthy"... I try to make it tangible and applicable for them. Oranges are good for you because it has vitamin C, and vitamin C keeps us from getting sick! Salmon/Fish helps your memory so you remember things better. Greens will help you grow and make you stronger! Everytime DD eats vegetables, she has to stand right up against me and compare how tall she is to me. She'll say, "Look mommy! I think I'm growing!! I'm getting taller! It's because I ate all my peas". I try to make the associations to healthy food really positive and appealing.