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Healthy eating
One of the main responsibilities of parenting is making sure your children eat healthy and nutritious foods. Many times, this is easier said than done. Here are a few tips you can follow to help keep your children on the path to a lifetime of healthy eating habits:
- Remember that you are a role model for your child’s eating. You have a strong influence on his or her food choices and habits.
- Plan for three meals and two snacks each day.
- Make sure your child eats breakfast. Breakfast provides the energy your child needs to make it through the day.
- Offer your child a variety of foods based on the food pyramid, including whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, beans, and lean meats.
- Involve the whole family in eating healthy. Don’t make separate meals for family members unless they have dietary restrictions.
- Read food labels. Check the serving size on the label for consistency.
- Cut high-calorie foods like cheese and chocolate into smaller pieces, and your child will eat less of them.
- Encourage your child to stop eating before he or she feels too full.
- Choose healthy food preparation methods. Cook with less saturated fat. Bake or roast foods instead of frying them.
- Use only heart-healthy oils like corn, soybean, canola, and olive.
- Add herbs and spices to meals to improve taste without increasing calories.
- Offer your child healthy snacks instead of candy or processed snacks. Healthy snacks include fresh or dried fruit, low-fat yogurt, air-popped popcorn, whole-grain crackers and bread, peanut butter, pretzels, and low-fat cottage cheese.
- Limit the amount of sugar in your child’s diet, including soda and fruit drinks. Choose foods and beverages that don’t list sugar as one of the first ingredients.
Make fitness a family affair 
Exercise is an important part of life. The guidelines below can help make exercise a part of your family’s daily routine – and what is routine to your child now will become a habit in his or her future. Make sure the habits you’re teaching are healthy ones!
- Limit sedentary activities such as television, video games, and computer time to two hours per day. Remember, TV commercials encourage children to crave the foods they see.
- Limit your own time in front of the television. This will set a good example for your child.
- Exercise with your child during commercials; for example, do sit-ups or push-ups, or run in place. Discourage snacking or eating meals while watching TV.
- Plan weekend family activities involving exercise, such as swimming, bicycling, miniature golf, tennis, or bowling.
- Help your child plan group activities with friends and neighbors, such as skating or hiking.
- Have your kids brainstorm a game plan of indoor activities such as jumping jacks, Simon Says, or mall walking.
- Remember that your family does not need to join a health club or buy fancy equipment to be active. Walking is inexpensive and easy. So is designing a backyard obstacle course. Weights can be made from soda or detergent bottles filled with sand or water.
- Reward your child for engaging in physical activities; positive rewards may include workout clothes, a new basketball, or an evening of roller-skating.
- Provide positive feedback about your child’s lifestyle changes. Remember not to focus on the scale (for you or your child).
- Be your child’s exercise buddy. Plan daily walks or bike rides. Set goals together for increasing physical activity, not for losing weight.
- As you schedule your child’s extracurricular activities, remember to plan time for exercise and activity as a priority for the entire family. Don’t just squeeze it in.
- Encourage children to try individual sports such as tennis and swimming. Studies show such activities are the basis of lifelong fitness habits.
Source: American Physical Therapy Association
Healthy meals when dining out
Going out for meals is a wonderful treat. But ordering foods high in fat and calories can lead to some not-so-wonderful consequences, including weight gain and increased cholesterol. The tips below can help you pick healthy and delicious food at any restaurant in town.
- Ask for water or order fat-free or low-fat milk, unsweetened tea, or other drinks without added sugars.
- Ask for sandwiches on whole-wheat bread.
- Start your meal with a salad packed with veggies to help control hunger and feel satisfied sooner.
- Choose main dishes that include vegetables, such as stir fries, kebobs, or pasta with tomato sauce.
- Order steamed, grilled, or broiled dishes instead of fried or sautéed items.
- Order an item from the menu instead of heading for the all-you-can-eat buffet.
- Order an appetizer or side dish instead of an entrée.
- Share a main dish with a friend.
- When your food is delivered, set aside or pack half of it to go immediately.
- Resign from the clean plate club – when you’ve eaten enough, leave the rest.
- Ask for salad dressing to be served on the side, so you can add only as much as you want.
- Order foods that do not have creamy sauces or gravies.
- Add little or no butter to your food.
- Choose fruit for dessert.
Source: MyPyramid.gov
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