The Final Chapter On Roadblocks To a Healthy Diet For Kids
By Jeff
The final chapter is here in my series on roadblocks to a healthy diet for kids. We’ve talked about a ton of outside influences to your child’s health.
We’ve talked about grandparents, school, daycare’s, nurseries, other relatives, our kids friends and I wanted to end the series talking about community and parties.
I talked earlier in part 1 of this series that many times parents say, “there’s nothing I can do about it.” After being a parent myself and experiencing these situations I know for sure there IS something I can do about it.
How The Community Can Effect a Healthy Kids Diet
I mentioned in previous posts a couple ways your community may enable your child without realizing it. Offering suckers or cookies is a generous way of showing that a company appreciates your business.
So what can you do about this? Is it wrong to hide a treat from your child or to avoid passing your grocery store’s bakery? If you’re worried about your child’s health, the answer is no.
Even if your child knows you’re withholding, you should still do what’s best for their health. It is better to let your child throw a fit, even if it’s embarrassing, than to continue enabling them and making them sick.
Holidays, Parties and a Healthy Diet For Kids
Take a minute to think about how many birthday parties your child has been to in the last year. How many classroom holiday parties have they had? There are occasions throughout the year that create unhealthy scenarios.
The end of the year is the worst. In two months’ time kids get an overdose of sugar thanks to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. You’ve got to set some rules so they don’t over-indulge.
Give them a small bag for trick-or-treating and tell them they can only have the amount of candy that will fit in the bag. Or, take a short trick-or-treating trip and center the holiday on another fun activity like visiting a pumpkin farm.
For Thanksgiving and Christmas, limit how much dessert they get and make sure they’ve eaten plenty of the healthier selections first. If you know there will be a lot of desserts at a family function, don’t buy any extra candy or chocolates.
Candy from holidays should only last a few days, not weeks or months. If a week has gone by and your child still has candy, throw it out or give it to someone else. A limited amount of candy will also make the holidays more special for the child.
It is impossible to guarantee that outsiders will never influence your child’s eating habits. But if you communicate with those sources as much as possible and set healthy boundaries, you can have more control.
Don’t be afraid to do what’s right for your child. Don’t be afraid to put their health first. Love your child with all your heart and do what’s in their best interest.
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