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Creating a Healthy Home can be easier than you think.

Creating a nutritionally healthy home is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the health of your child. To start, make smart food choices, and help your child develop a positive relationship with healthy food. Your children will learn their food smarts from your example.

Here are the top 10 tips for getting children to eat healthy food:

1. Do not restrict food. Restricting food increases the risk your child may develop eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia later in life. It can also have a negative effect on growth and development. Also by restricting food you will actually increase the risk of overeating later in the day which will cause weight gain.

2. Keep healthy food at hand. Children will eat what’s readily available. Keep fruit in a bowl on the counter, not buried in the crisper section of your fridge. Remember, your child can only choose foods that you stock in the house, by limiting ‘junk food’ you will, by default, teach your child how to choose healthier foods.

3. Don’t label foods as “good” or “bad.” Instead, tie foods to the things your child cares about, such as sports, academics and hobbies. Let your child know that lean protein such as turkey and calcium in dairy products give strength to their sports and academic performance, the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables add luster to skin and hair and the carbs in whole grains will give them energy to play.

4. Praise healthy choices. Give your children a proud smile and tell them how smart they are when they choose healthy foods. Kids thrive on positive reinforcement!
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Here is a sure-fire list of diet dos and don’ts to help your family triumph over obesity:

1. Be a ‘healthy’ role model. The number one thing that parents can do is to be a good role model for their children, Parents so often unknowingly set their kids up for failure. If there are chips, cookies and Twinkies and no fruit or vegetables when your kids look for snacks, how can they succeed? Line your refrigerator and cabinets with fresh fruits, nuts, low-fat cheese, easy things for kids to snack on besides ‘junk food’.

In a 2000 survey conducted by the CDC, close to 80% of adults reported eating fewer than the recommended five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily — not good role-model behavior.

2. Be positive. Don’t tell your child to ‘lose weight’ say, ‘Let’s be healthy and start taking care of our bodies’. Focus on the foods you can eat, not the ones that you should limit eating. Say, ‘Let’s go pick out fruits and make a fruit salad,’ not ‘Don’t eat this or that.’ Instead of saying, ‘We have to exercise,’ say, ‘Lets go to the park.’ Use positive words and phrases when talking with your kid.

3. Make healthy eating a family affair. Create family meals together and for the entire family. Do not single out an overweight family member with special diet food. Your entire family can benefit form healthy eating regardless of weight.
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Here is a list of the top 7 healthiest foods to feed your kid and why it’s so healthy:

1. Oatmeal: A fabulous breakfast food, full of B vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium. Old-fashioned oatmeal offers plenty of carbohydrate for quick energy and high fiber. Add berries and honey to make it a delicious perfect food for those fast-paced school day mornings!

2. Yogurt: Kick your child’s dairy consumption up a notch and include yogurt on the menu. A great source of calcium, yogurt is easier to digest than regular milk, and the cultures (check the label to make sure they’re in there!) are very beneficial to good colon health. Watch it on the sugar content though. A great idea is to buy plain yogurt and sweeten it yourself with fresh fruit!

3. Broccoli: it is one of the best vegetables for anyone, especially growing kids. It has loads of calcium, potassium, beta-carotene and a wide variety of the B vitamins. If your child is not a fan of plain vegetables include broccoli in a casserole or put a little shredded cheese on top to add flavor.
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Try these 7 tips to foster optimism and resilience in your overweight child:

1) Believe in your Children. Assure your children that you are on their side and that you expect then to be the best person that they can be, although you don’t expect them to be the best at anything. No one is perfect.

2) Find other adults who believe in your children. Teachers, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends can help you make a positive difference for you overweight child. Other adults that can see beyond the weight and also believe in your child can help your child take control of their lives.
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