With child obesity growing each year in the United States, it’s important to get our kids excited about eating healthy foods and having an active lifestyle. Here’s a recent article with helpful tips on childhood nutrition from Laurie, our Lite for Life director at my Los Gatos Health & Fitness club.

Many of my clients have young children in their lives, whether it be their own little ones or their dear grandchildren.  Since most of our consult time is spent talking about the client rather than the kids, I’d like to take this opportunity to touch on childhood nutrition.

With childhood obesity (and a whole host of other weight-related illnesses) on the rise, it’s more important now than ever to start our kids on the right foot.

The biggest factor plaguing kids today is sugar.

The hard truth is, kids don’t even know it exists until it’s introduced to them.  So, who’s the real culprit?  That’s right.  It starts with us – the parents and caregivers.

Out of all the things I despise the most in the nutrition world, it really is sugar.  Many people don’t realize that it truly is like a drug.  It can be destructive and addicting, a scientific fact.

Sugar’s effects are especially apparent in kids because their bodies are so little.  A serving of any sugary food (ice cream, chocolate, etc.)  is plenty of sugar for the adult body to handle.  This same serving is simple overwhelming to a child’s system.

This being said, I must admit that I’m often just as guilty as the next parent.  Whenever I see little baskets of free candy, I can’t help but think, “Oh, Riley would love that!”.  Then I have to remind myself of my profession and my commitment to raising Riley in the healthiest way possible.  I think the underlying issue is that we want to make our kids happy and see their faces light up.  Candy, treats, and all things yummy will surely do that.  But at what cost?

I’ll share a few things that have helped me in my 2 3/4 years of experience:

1. Don’t start out with sugar.  Remember, it has to be introduced before it can be liked.  The biggest culprits are yogurt, cereal, and juice.

• Yogurt in our house is plain, not the fruit  or even the vanilla variety.  If it’s too tart, add a small amount of honey (after 2 years of age).
• Be a cereal sleuth.  For every 12 grams of sugar per serving, picture your child swallowing a tablespoon of pure sugar.   Frightening!  Try Cheerios, Kashi, Shredded Wheat, and Puffins.
• Don’t even start with juice as a main beverage.  Stick with milk and water and think of juice as a treat.  If you must use it, make it 50% juice and 50% water.

2. Bribe!  When I was last at Subway, I saw a mom waving a Snickerdoodle cookie in front of her toddler’s face.  “Doesn’t this smell good?  This is what you get when you eat your sandwich.”  Hmmm…….well, that’s great if he eats the sandwich, but then you’re going to douse it in sugar?!  My bribe was a few Baked Lays for every bite of tomato, cucumber, or bell pepper (I asked for his veggies on the side).  The point should be to bribe with their favorite foods rather sugar-laden ones.  For dessert a post-dinner treat can be as simple as warmed applesauce topped with cinnamon sprinkles.  Act excited and they will, too!

3. Use toddler-friendly phrases.  Red bell peppers and carrots can be called “eating your reds and oranges.”  Broccoli can be called “trees” and we refer to cauliflower as “cauli.”

4. Plant a garden together and enlist your child(ren) in helping prepare dinner or snacks.  I can’t tell you how many green tomatoes Riley ate last season!

5. Use dips.  Kids LOVE to dip!  Try baby carrots/sliced bell peppers and hummus for a blast of vitamins A and C.

Thanks Laurie for the great advice! What are some of your personal success stories and strategies you use with your kids? Share them below….

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