Roadblocks To a Healthy Diet For Kids – Part II
By Jeff
There are so many outside influences for us and our children when it comes to eating. It’s a little easier for adults in my opinion because we totally have knowledge. Knowledge is power.
We don’t have to eat out everyday at a restaurant like my former co-workers did at my last and hopefully final 9-5 job ever. For our kids it’s a little different.
I previously talked about a few roadblocks to a healthy diet for kids in part I. I talked about an intro to working with family and then I talked about the school’s influence.
With this blog post we’re going to go in-depth with daycare’s, grandparents and friends.
Daycare’s a Roadblock To a Healthy Diet For Kids?
This should be fairly simple as most daycares require parents to bring the child’s lunch. If that’s not a requirement, you might want to do it anyway. Or at least talk to those in charge about meal plans.
It would be good to ask about snacks too. If you know all the snacks are bad, offer to bring snacks in for your child. Parents of kids with allergies do this all the time so it shouldn’t be a problem.
As I said in part I, also make sure your child has a healthy breakfast so they’re not hungry when they get to daycare.
As for nurseries (like at church), usually a child is not there long enough to have more than a snack. You may want to ask what they’re feeding the kids, but most likely this won’t be a detrimental situation.
Grandparents and other relatives
Believe it or not, these could be the most challenging situations, especially if bad eating habits have passed down through the generations. If you learned bad eating habits from your parents, they are likely to teach the same to your children.
Sadly, many grandparents are offended if you ask them not to feed your children certain foods. They may ridicule, complain, or hold a grudge. Why is this? There could be several reasons, including:
- They feel it is their right and privilege to spoil their grandchild
- They think you are criticizing their style of parenting (both how they parented you and their grandchildren)
- They’re just overly sensitive and take it personally
- They feel like you’re attacking how they’ve fed your child in the past
- They think you think you’re better than them
Whatever the reason, if you feel negativity, the best thing to do is sit down with them and discuss the issue. Talk to them about why you want your child to eat healthy.
Share with them the information from this blog and even let them read it. If they love their grandchild and see the health risks, they should be willing to help.
Some grandparents will actually welcome your new food rules with open arms. I know grandparents who would rather feed their grandkids healthy food, but the kids don’t want it and the parents don’t enforce healthy eating.
So, instead of putting up a fight or overstepping their boundaries, they comply with the child’s wishes. If these grandparents know you’re enforcing rules, they’ll enforce them too.
It’s also a good idea to talk with the grandparents about boundaries. Different people have different ideas about healthy eating. Your parents may think McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are a healthy choice over a cheeseburger. So you just have to tell them your definition of healthy.
Unless your child’s health is at serious risk, you don’t have to set boundaries so strict that grandparents can’t enjoy their grandchildren. Here are some ideas for boundaries you can set so that you’ll feel your child is getting the proper nutrition and they’ll feel they have a little leeway to spoil.
- No fast food
- Only one dessert per visit
- At least one fruit or vegetable during their visit
If the grandparents are not willing to follow your wishes, you may have to limit the number of visits or shorten the length of time they spend with your kids.
All of the same rules apply with other family members. Remember that your child’s health is most important. You obviously don’t want to hurt anyone but if your child’s health and well-being is at stake, you have to do what’s best for them.
Think of it this way … the only person you are responsible for parenting is your child.
It looks like I’m going to have to write a part three because this topic is so important. Can you relate to any of these roadblocks to a healthy diet for kids?
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