5 Top Tips for Teaching Kids about Healthy Eating by Kimberly Gomer

Back to School is upon us and we all know what that means- 

rushed breakfasts and dinners, and kids not eating all their lunches!

How about some great tips about teaching your kids about nutrition and healthy eating,

 BEFORE school starts and they go down the road of quick versus healthy?

1. Resolve to become a better role model.

If they see you frequently pulling into the local drive-thru for a quick burger, guess where they’ll be headed once they start driving themselves? Make veggie burgers something you enjoy. Make your children’s exercise – soccer, basketball, rollerblading – your exercise (as much as your back will allow).If you have budding chefs, take them out to the kitchen with you. Share the fun. The earlier they develop healthy cooking skills, the better.

2. Start a new game of “good grades for good food.”

As your children head back to school, tell them you have a nifty new game the family will be launching, and it involves good grades but not a single (phew!) report card. Then, throughout each day, not just at mealtimes, have fun grading different foods together. Our family conversations often went something like this…

"Mom, bacon is a ‘D’ or ‘F,' right?"

"Yep. It’s not only high in fats that hurt our hearts, it has chemicals that may lead to cancer."

"And I know cherries are an ‘A.’ But what about cherry pie? Is that sort of a ‘C’?"

Children love trying to guess how to grade each food. That’s the game. The goal is their realization that they really do eat a lot of "A" and "B" foods. Very quickly, they start to feel like "A" and "B" kids. Those "A" foods, just like "A" grades in school, take on a certain aura, a mark of excellence. And children begin to feel proud of their healthy choices, and themselves. 

3. Set up non-food rewards.

Every time you offer your children fast food as a reward, you’re creating second- and third-generation fast-food junkies. The same goes for other high-calorie-dense rewards like candy bars and trips to the ice cream parlor.

Instead, treat them to a trip to their favorite park for a little calorie-burning fun. Or take 20-minute breaks from homework for a little "recess reward" time outdoors playing volleyball or soccer, weather permitting. Instead of a night at the pizzeria, take the family out for an upbeat movie, concert, or sports event.

4. Set new limits for television viewing, especially of kids' shows.

Almost every commercial is for something they should not eat or do not need. For TV shows that they insist on watching, use the DVR and record them. That way, you can speed through all the commercials and all the sugary, fatty, salty temptations.

5. Resolve to carve out time to enjoy more family dinnertime at home.

Kids and teens don't need separate meals at the local burger joint on their way home from sports or other extracurricular activities at school; however, they do need to be exposed to healthy food very early in life - and daily. Repetition fosters acceptance, then enjoyment.

To enhance the pleasures of healthy food at dinnertime, create pleasurable conversation.  Keep the talk upbeat. Ask your children questions like:

What made you feel really good about yourself today?

What made you laugh today?

What’s your favorite veggie? Why?

Tell me one thing you learned today.

What better way to end the day, and underscore the feeling among your children that good food is also about good living. It’s a mind-set we all can enjoy and benefit from in 2013.

About the Author:   Kimberly Gomer MS, RD, LDN, is a Registered Dietitian and Educator at the Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa.  Healthy Eating by Kimberly GomerIn addition to her undergraduate degree in Dietetics/Nutrition and Masters in Public Health Nutrition, Kimberly brings to the Pritikin Longevity Center more than a decade of experience teaching and inspiring thousands nationwide to eat and live well.  

At LIFE Saint Francis PACE Program in New Jersey, she provided medical nutrition therapy for individuals with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity.  At community health centers throughout New Jersey, she developed and delivered several wellness programs, including individual and group weight-loss programs for a variety of ages, from students to seniors.  And with a grant funded by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Kimberly created and implemented a curriculum for children in elementary schools called SWEET (Successful Wellness By Eating and Exercising Together).

Kimberly has also served as Nutrition Consultant at the University of Pennsylvania Weight and Eating Disorders Research Group, and has worked as a Nutrition Professor in Ohio and New Jersey. In Ohio, she owned a private practice for 10 years where she specialized in weight management,diabetes, and heart disease.  She provided medical nutrition therapy for clients of all ages.