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Roughly 45 percent of children
are overweight or obese. Overweight children have a 40 to 90
percent chance of becoming overweight adults. Also, 20
percent of today's children and teens who are overweight,
are overweight enough that it will threaten their future
health. Although both diet and exercise are
recommended improvements to prevent or correct this
situation, this article will focus on recommendations to get
kids to eat healthier.
1. Model healthy eating
- Although it's easier said than done, one of the most
important actions adults can take to help children eat
healthier is to eat healthier themselves. There have
been several studies that have shown that parental modeling
was associated with increased milk, fruit juice and
vegetable intake.
2.
Eat together - In an era where family meals are
on the decline, there are reasons to make an effort at
eating together. Not only are family meals generally
more nutritious for children, eating together also offers an
opportunity to socialize about food and eating, and model
healthy behaviors and eating habits.
3.
Increase exposure to healthy foods - Children
like what they know and they eat what they like. One
of the best ways that parents can help their children
develop healthy eating habits is to repeatedly expose them
to a wide variety of foods. While children may not
accept the novel food on the first try, repeated attempts
and familiarity will cause them to be more likely to develop
a preference for it. Just because a child shuns a food
once, it should not be labeled "rejected". Instead,
continue to reintroduce it and expect that it may take up to
15 times before the child will accept it.
4.
Let them choose the portion size - Adults can
empower children to let their internal cues of hunger and
fullness guide how much they eat by allowing children to
choose their own portion sizes. Adults are notoriously
bad at guessing how much food a child should eat and then
require kids to "clean their plates." This scenario
sets the stage for overeating since kids will eat more food
when portion sizes are big. When adults force them to
finish these oversized portions, children learn to override
their internal hunger cues and develop a tendency for
overeating. Several studies have shown that when kids
are allowed to choose their own portions, they tend to
choose appropriate portion sizes and they eat less in
comparison.
5.
Share the control - Studies have shown that there
is only minimal difference in caloric intake when a child is
allowed to self-regulate food intake. Several studies
have confirmed that requiring a child to consume a
particular food to receive a "reward" such as a dessert, led
to increased dislike of the food the child was required to
eat and increased liking of the typically unhealthy "reward"
food. Higher levels of parental control and pressure
to eat are associated with lower fruit and vegetable intake
and higher intake of dietary fat.
6.
Refuse to be a "short order" cook - Picky eaters
can compel some parents to make special accommodations for
each child just so everyone will have something that they
will eat. Parents can promote healthier eating by
refusing to accommodate special requests, while at the same
time making sure to serve at least one healthy food that the
child likes at each mealtime. Experts promote a
"division of responsibility" in which parents are
responsible for the types of food that are offered and
children are responsible for deciding whether or not to
consume those foods and how much to eat. If the
children refuse what is offered, it is not up to the parents
to offer them something else. Rather, the children can
have ready access to the meal later should they become
hungry. This may seem like tough love, and many
parents may express concern that the child will go hungry,
but by consistently following this rule, parents will go a
long way toward helping their child to develop a taste for
previously rejected foods.
7.
Limit television time - While television viewing
has been associated with a variety of negative behaviors
including poor school performance and childhood obesity, it
is also linked to overall worse nutrition. This may
largely be due to the enormous amount of advertising for
unhealthy foods. Research has shown that exposure to
advertisements for food products increases children's choice
of, and preference for, these advertised foods.
8.
Exploit similarities - Experts suggest that
parents exploit similarities to develop a taste preference
for new foods. Once a food is accepted, find a
similarly colored or flavored "food-bridgers" to expand the
variety of foods a child will eat. For example, if a
child likes pumpkin pie, try mashed sweet potatoes, and then
mashed carrots.
9.
Make eating healthy fun - Adults can make
learning about healthy nutrition and physical activity fun
and educational. For example, what better way to teach
a child about plants and the importance of eating them than
having his or her own small garden? Families can grow
the plants and then show the child how to use the produce in
delicious recipes.
10.
Skip the food fights - The more that parents
pressure their children to eat certain foods, the less
likely they will be to develop a taste for them and continue
to eat them as often as an adult. Several studies have
shown that encouraging children to consume a particular food
increases their dislike for that food. Kids
instinctively resist persuasion. Better strategies
would include increasing accessibility and exposure,
minimizing the competition, modeling, vowing not to say
anything when a child refuses a food, and helping make food
taste good.
ref: ACE
Fitness Matters - Jan 2010
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