If you are going to eat food that doesn’t help you grow, eat the good stuff!

What does this mean? If I am choosing between red licorice and a homemade chocolate chip cookie, I would rather have my kids eat a chocolate chip cookie because it uses whole food ingredients. There are no artificial dyes, corn syrup, or European banned ingredients like you find in most packaged candy (i.e., red 40, yellow 6).

It’s also important to teach your kids how they physically feel after they eat foods that help them grow and after they eat foods that don’t help them grow.

For example:
1. “My tummy hurts or my tummy feels pushed out”
2. “My body feels slow”
3. “My body feels jumpy”
4. “I feel like the poo poo is stuck in there”

There is some strategy involved when you are trying to lay a healthy foundation for a good relationship with food. When you restrict your children from eating certain foods, you may actually be setting your kids up for failure. When your kids go to other people’s homes or birthday parties (for example), they will inevitably be exposed to junk food. But if you lay the foundation and offer options and examples in advance, you can trust that your children will make an appropriate decision as to what to put into their body.

Do you struggle with food choices for your kids or getting your kids to eat growing foods?