It’s hard for me to make healthy choices for myself, but surprisingly, two of my three kids eat pretty healthy. Ryan eats baby carrots and apples every day and has since he was a preschooler. Kaitlyn has a tiny appetite and prefers to graze rather than eat big meals, so she asks for half a banana or half an apple or some grapes at least once a day. I’m still working on Nathan, he doesn’t like fruit and will only eat a few vegetables. And I’ll be honest-I live on coffee during the day, I never remember to have fruit or vegetables, even though I enjoy the taste.

I do try to teach the kids to at least recognize a healthier choice at the grocery store. I show them package labels and point out my two biggest concerns- grams of fiber, and grams of sugar.  Especially with bread and with cereal, I show them two options and which one has more fiber and less sugar per serving. With frozen and packaged entrees, we look at fat grams per serving (which can be shockingly high).  All I can hope is that when they are on their own and buying their own food that they make the best choices possible.

To help parents learn ways to teach kids to make healthier choices, the Looney Tunes Eating Right program combines better-for-you choices available at Safeway stores and a series of posts on Momlogic including a weekly brown bag lunch menu and tips from nutritionist Haylie Pomroy.  I encourage you to check it out, especially the lunch menus, which include a whole fruit, a veggie, a whole grain, and a protein.  You’ll also find an article about turning grocery shopping into a hunt for healthy foods.

How do you teaching your kids about healthy eating choices?  What works best for your family?

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