You have to give it to the marketing and campaign departments to those fast food chain restaurants. Like McDonald, their advertisements are so successful that so many young children are attracted to hamburgers, french fries at their earliest possible decision making ages!
So, how is it possible for parents to infuse the ideas to their lovely children about eating healthy and choosing the right food for themselves?
It's definitely not an easy task! But according to nation.ittefaq.com[1], there are 10 key rules that can help create the right nutritional environment for your child. Let's try to summarize as follows:
1) Control supply. Parents control what food to buy and to offer to their child.
2) Let child have some says. While parents control the supplies, allow your child to choose from the supplies of what to eat.
3) Stop the "clean-plate" policy. Allow your child stop eating when they feel full.
4) Start early. Offer a variety within different food groups to allow proper food developments.
5) Kid menu. Allow your child to try different food than simply what you think what they want.
6) Count the drink. Get your child to drink better, like milk or juice.
7) Put sweet in meal. Allow your child to have some sweets during the meal will make them realize sweet is not a reward but a part of a diet.
8) Don't use food for love. Give your child other ways like hugging to show love than using food as a way of showing affection.
9) Take the model role. Kids learn everything from their parents, so you ought to show them a good example.
10) Reduce "screen time". Research shows that kids' percentage of body fat is reduced when TV and computer time is reduced.
These rules do not sound difficult to follow. However, it is understandable of how you want to make your child happy all the time, and by that, we normally give in when they want some food that we know are not of their best interests. So, try to be persistent in the food choices and realize that, by making your child happy, their good health is a main ingredient!
Reference:
[1] http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/10/10/news0524.htm
